HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — a program in VOA Special Englishabout music and American life. And we answer your questions.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson.
On our show today, we have music from the Grammy-winning groupEvanescence. And we answer a question about the rights of Americansto vote in foreign elections.
But first, we tell about an event that happens every four years,and has nothing to do with voting.
Leap Year
HOST:
Sunday is February twenty-ninth –Leap Day. Shep O’Neal takes time now to explain why this is one ofthose years with an extra day in it.
ANNCR:
Everyone knows the Earth takes three-hundred-sixty-five days totravel around the sun. Well, that is not exactly correct. The Earthreally takes three-hundred-sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eightminutes and forty-six seconds to complete its orbit around the sun.
The problem for people developing calendars is what to do withthe extra five-hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds.
People needed calendars to help them know when to plant crops andwhen to celebrate religious holidays. The ancient Greeks and Chinesehad a solution. They produced calendars that included extra monthsevery nineteen years.
The ancient Romans had a different solution. In the yearforty-six, Julius Caesar made a new calendar. The ruler of Rome hadhelp from the astronomer Sosigenes. The Julian calendar included anextra day every four years.
But there was a problem. The Julian year was just over elevenminutes longer than the cycle of the seasons. So, over the next fewhundred years, the seasons moved slowly backward on the calendar.
In fifteen-eighty-two, Pope Gregory the Thirteenth established anew calendar to keep a better record of the days. Pope Gregory wasthe religious leader of most of Europe. He decided that years thatcan be divided by four would add a day. However, years that end intwo zeros that cannot be divided by four-hundred would not have aleap year. Hmm … a little confusing.
For example, seventeen-hundred, eighteen-hundred,nineteen-hundred and twenty-one hundred are not leap years. Butsixteen-hundred, two-thousand and two-thousand-four-hundred are leapyears.
The Gregorian calendar is widely followed today. The calendar isgood. But … every three-thousand years or so it loses a day. Well,we don’t know anyone who really cares!
Electing a Pope
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week is from Dalby, Sweden. ThomasCorcoran wants to know how Roman Catholic clergy in America are ableto take part in the election of a pope.
Our listener states that Americancitizens are not permitted to take part in foreign elections. Hesays they risk losing their passports and even their citizenship.The pope is leader of an independent city-state. So, Mister Corcoranasks, what happens to American cardinals if they vote for a pope?
In our research, we found that United States law does not barAmerican citizens from voting in foreign elections. However, it isnot wrong to say that they could lose their passports andcitizenship. But that is unlikely.
The main legal decision involving this issue is fromnineteen-sixty-seven. The Supreme Court considered the case of aPolish-born American named Beys Afroyim. In nineteen-fifty, he votedin elections in Israel.
The following year, the State Department refused to renew hispassport. It said he was no longer an American citizen under theNationality Act of nineteen-forty. That act said citizens of theUnited States shall lose their citizenship upon voting in a foreignpolitical election.
Mister Afroyim argued that this violated his rights under theConstitution. The Supreme Court agreed with him by a vote of five tofour. The court decided that the government cannot withdrawcitizenship; a citizen must be willing to surrender it. Innineteen-seventy-eight, Congress amended the Nationality Act toremove the part about elections.
In any case, when Roman Catholic cardinals choose a pope, theelection is not considered political. We talked to a spokesman forthe Archdiocese of Washington. He told us that the College ofCardinals elects the Supreme Pontiff as head of the church. TheConstitution of the Holy See names the pope as head of the VaticanCity State.
Our listener also asks what would happen if an American wereelected pope, and thus head of a foreign country. We will answerthat next week.
Evanescence
HOST:
“Evanescence” is a word that describes the slow disappearance ofsomething like smoke or fog. But many people hope the music of thegroup Evanescence is here to stay. More from Phoebe Zimmermann.
ANNCR:
Evanescence won a Grammy Award this month as best new artists.They also won a Grammy for best hard rock performance for theirfirst hit, “Bring Me to Life.”
(MUSIC)
Group founders Ben Moody and Amy Lee met as children in theirhometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. They wrote most of the songs onthe album “Fallen.” They said the music was meant to let people knowthey are not alone in feeling pain and hurt. Here is “Tourniquet.”
(MUSIC)
Ben Moody appeared at the Grammys. But, a few months ago, hesuddenly left the group during performances in Europe. Guitar playerTerry Balsamo has replaced him. Will the sound of Evanescencechange? No one knows. But the other members are planning to recordanother album later this year.
We leave you with another song from “Fallen.” Amy Lee describesit as the one that best shows what Evanescence tries to sound like.It is called “Haunted.”
(MUSIC)
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson.
Send us your questions about American life! We’ll send you a giftif we use your question. So be sure to include your name and postaladdress.
Our e-mail address is mosaic@voanews.com. Or write to AmericanMosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C.,two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.
This program was written by Nancy Steinbach, Caty Weaver and PaulThompson, who was also our producer. And our engineer was AndreasRegis.
I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week forVOA’s radio magazine in Special English.