HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today:
We play some music made famous on M-T-V …
answer a question about pensions …
and, tell about an unusual American, George Dawson.
George Dawson
HOST:
George Dawson spent the first ninety-eight years of his lifedoing many different things. Yet he could not read or write. Hislife changed five years ago, when he decided to go back to schooland learn to read and write. Since then, his story has been changingother lives, too. Shep O’Neal has more.
ANNCR:
George Dawson was born in the state of Texas. He was the grandsonof slaves. He began working on the family farm when he was four.When he was twelve, he worked on a nearby farm to help feed hisparents and four younger brothers and sisters. For the nexteighty-five years, he held a number of different jobs, most of theminvolving hard labor.
As a young man, George Dawson traveled often, usually by stealingrides on trains. He visited Mexico. He went to Canada to see snow.
George Dawson lived a happy life even though conditions weredifficult. When he was ten years old, he saw a youngAfrican-American man murdered. He said his two biggest problems wereracial unfairness in America and his inability to read and write.
George Dawson kept it a secret that he could not read. But hesaid he always dreamed that he would learn. Although he had noeducation, he taught his children to work hard in school.
George Dawson’s life changed in Nineteen-Ninety-Six. A man cameto his house in Dallas, Texas, and told him that adult educationclasses were being taught at a nearby school. So the man who hadsigned his name with an “X” for almost one-hundred years went toschool.
People wondered why Mister Dawson did not go to school earlier.He said he never had the time because of his farm work. And he neverknew about adult education programs.
George Dawson’s efforts to learn to read influenced students ofall ages. He spoke to young people about the importance of learningto read and write.
Mister Dawson received many honors for his efforts. He appearedon television shows and received honorary awards from universities.Last year, a schoolteacher from Washington state helped him write abook about his life. The book is called “Life Is So Good.”
George Dawson died last month at the age of one-hundred-three. Heattended school every day until his death.
Pensions
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes in an e-mail fromJapan. Teruko Hagiya asks about the pension system in the UnitedStates.
A pension is the money that a worker or his or her familyreceives after a worker retires, is unable to work or dies. Peoplehave pension plans from working in private industry, in the armedforces or in government. People can also establish their own pensionplans. Many of those who create their own plans work for themselvesor for a company that does not provide a pension plan.
Reports say most American workers have some kind of pension plan.Most pensions of people who worked for the government are paid forwith money that came jointly from workers and their agencies. Mostprivate pension plans are paid for by the employer.
A federal government program called Social Security providesmoney to most American workers after they retire. Social Security isthe largest retirement program in the United States. Workers payinto the program a percent of what they earn each month. Theiremployers do the same.
Most self-employed people also pay into Social Security. Thesepeople then will receive money each month after they retire for aslong as they live.
The Social Security program was established inNineteen-Thirty-Five. It was never meant to fully support someonewho has no other money. Especially today, money received from SocialSecurity is not enough to provide for most people’s needs.
Many companies have their own retirement plans for their workers.Federal law requires companies to give pension rights to all peoplewho have worked for the company for a set number of years. Peoplecan also establish individual pension plans through banks orinsurance companies. They put in so much money each month, thenreceive payments after they reach about sixty-five years of age.
Most Americans say they cannot live as they would like on moneyprovided by only one pension plan. So they have more than one. Forexample, a man who retires after twenty years of military servicereceives pension money each month from the federal government. Hemay also collect money from the Social Security system, and fromother private investments he has made.
MTV Anniversary
HOST:
The television company M-T-V celebrated its twentieth anniversaryearlier this month. It has become the biggest television network inthe world. MTV is known for its short movies of the music of popularartists. Shirley Griffith tells us about the history of M-T-V andplays some of the music its videos have made famous.
ANNCR:
M-T-V broadcast its first music video on August first,Nineteen-Eighty-One. It was made by a group called the Buggles. Thename of the song is “Video Killed the Radio Star.”
(CUT ONE: VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR)
Radio is still very much alive. But, M-T-V did grow to be asimportant as radio to the creators of popular music.
M-T-V reaches almost three-hundred-fifty-million houses inone-hundred-forty countries around the world. It is broadcast inseventeen languages. This year, M-T-V will probably earnseven-hundred-million dollars just from selling broadcast time tocompanies that want to advertise their products.
M-T-V played music videos twenty-four hours a day when it firstbegan broadcasting. Later, it created shows like “Real World.” Thatshow records the lives of young people as they live together inhouses in different cities of the world. Television critics consider”Real World” the first reality television program.
Some videos on M-T-V seem like Hollywood movies. InNineteen-Eighty-Three, Michael Jackson created a fourteen-minutevideo that became extremely famous. Here is : “Thriller.”
(CUT TWO: THRILLER)
We leave you now with a song that will be recognized by M-T-Vfans all over the world. It has become the unofficial song of M-T-V.It is Dire Straits singing “Money for Nothing.”
(CUT THREE: MONEY FOR NOTHING)
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 Cynthia Kirk, NancySteinbach and Caty Weaver. Our studio engineer was Tom Verba. Andour producer was Paul Thompson.