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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 question about thesinger Marvin Gaye. And we report about the fiftieth anniversary ofa major sports magazine.
But first – a look inside one of the college programs in theUnited States where students get to experience life in Washington,D.C.
MSU Internship Program
HOST:
Many American college studentsfrom all over the country want a chance to live, work and study inthe nation’s capital. One school that offers this kind of program isMichigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Shep O’Nealtells us about the student experience.
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Michigan State University’s Semester Study Program in Washington,D.C. is for students who are studying political science, criminaljustice, psychology, or communications. The students work four daysa week, but do not earn any money. Their jobs are calledinternships. The students also go to Michigan State Universityclasses held in Washington two times a week. The students write aresearch paper and make an oral presentation to complete theprogram.
About twenty students are now taking part in the fall semesterprogram. Most of the students live in the same hotel. Some live withfamily members or friends. They all travel to work on theunderground Metro train system.
The students in the program all have different jobs. Some workfor congressional representatives. Others work at radio ortelevision stations. Most of the students work for non-profitorganizations.
Laura Seidl works at Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers’ office.She answers telephone calls from citizens and carries out otheroffice duties. She says her experience so far has been excellent.John Sturk works for another congressman from Michigan, ThaddeusMcCotter. John is doing so well as an intern that he has beenoffered a job there after graduation. Chi-Un (JEE-un) Lee isinterning here in Special English. She enjoys working with newswriters and seeing how radio shows are produced.
Students have many things to do when they are not at work or inclass. They explore the city of Washington. They see theatricalshows. They attend local events, like the Taste of D.C., wherepeople taste foods prepared by different eating places. Somestudents enjoy visiting the many museums and monuments in the city.
Internship director Joel Clarke praises the program. He saysstudents change so much in the three months they are in Washington.Students gain valuable work experience. They also learn more aboutthe kind of job they want to have in the future. And he says many ofthe students like the Washington experience so much that they returnto live in the city after they graduate.
Sports Illustrated at 50
HOST:
Do you love sports? Well, a lot ofAmericans do. And, there is a weekly magazine that has beencelebrating sports in the United States for almost fifty years.Faith Lapidus tells about Sports Illustrated and what the magazineis doing to observe its fiftieth year.
ANNCR:
It is August, nineteen-fifty-four. Eddie Matthews of theMilwaukee Braves baseball team is at bat. A magazine photographertakes a picture of the baseball player in the middle of a swing. Thecatcher has his glove up — ready to catch the ball if the battermisses his target. The game official behind the plate is in positionto make a call on the play if necessary. And, in the background, ahuge crowd watches the action from the seats of the baseballstadium.
That picture became the first cover of Sports Illustrated. Themagazine’s goal was to cover American sports. Aboutfive-hundred-thousand people paid to receive the magazine at theirhomes each week back then. Now more than three-million peoplesubscribe. They pay almost ninety dollars a year to get the magazinesent to their homes every week. Other people buy it on newsstands.Today the magazine says it has about twenty-million readers.
The huge majority of Sports Illustrated readers are men. However,about four-million women read the magazine too.
In July, Sports Illustrated officials announced plans for ayear-long celebration leading up to the magazine’s fiftiethanniversary. The plans include a new weekly report on each of thefifty states in America. The reports discuss a sport or sportingevent that is special to the state.
Sports Illustrated is also producing four large anniversaryissues. One was released last week. It honored Sports Illustratedcover pictures throughout the years. The magazine included smallversions of all two-thousand-five-hundred-forty-eight coverpictures.
The issue also reported some interesting facts about themagazine’s covers. For example, the most popular sport based oncovers is American football. It was the subject of more thanfive-hundred Sports Illustrated covers. Among athletes, a famousAmerican basketball player had his picture on the most magazinecovers. Michael Jordan was the subject of forty-nine SportsIllustrated covers.
Marvin Gaye
HOST:
Our VOA listener question thisweek comes from Nigeria. Venah Obiasor asks about the life, anddeath, of the singer Marvin Gaye.
Marvin Gaye was born in Washington, D.C., on April second,nineteen-thirty-nine. His father was a Christian minister. YoungMarvin first sang in his father’s church. But he wanted to singother kinds of music. He joined several groups before Motown Recordschief Berry Gordy got him to sing alone. His first hit song wascalled “That Stubborn Kind of Fellow.”
Marvin Gaye also recorded songs with several female singers,including Tammi Terrell. Here they are with “Ain’t Nothin’ Like theReal Thing.”
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Marvin Gaye had another big song with “Mercy, Mercy Me.” Itappeared on the album “What’s Goin’ On” in which he performed songshe wrote himself. He sang about social problems, like pollution andpoverty.
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In the nineteen-seventies, Marvin Gaye developed a drug problem.He became dependent on cocaine. He stopped work for a few years.Then, in nineteen-eighty-two, he recorded an album called “MidnightLove.” The recording industry honored him with two Grammy awards.His personal life, however, remained unhappy. He continued to usecocaine, and threatened to kill himself.
Marvin Gaye died on April first, nineteen-eighty-four, the daybefore his forty-fifth birthday. His father shot him during anargument.
We leave you now with one of Marvin Gaye’s biggest hits, “I HeardIt Through the Grapevine.”
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HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. Send your questions about American life tomosaic@voanews.com. If we use your question, we’ll send you a gift.So make sure to include your name and mailing address. Our postaladdress is American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C.,two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.
Our program was written by Chi-Un Lee, Nancy Steinbach and CatyWeaver. Our producer was Paul Thompson.
I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week forVOA’s radio magazine in Special English.