(THEME)
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson.
On our program today: the Major League baseball season opens…
We answer a listener’s question about Puerto Rico…
And, we play some music in honor of the “Year of the Blues.”
Another Baseball Season
HOST:
The Major League Baseball season opens in the United States onSunday. Millions of Americans are happy about the start of thebaseball season. For the next seven months, people of all ages willbe attending the games. Others will listen to them on the radio andwatch them on television. Steve Ember has more.
ANNCR:
Perhaps no other sport has become as deeply rooted in Americanlife as baseball. And none has created so many popular traditions.There are many poems, songs, books and films about the sport. Famousplayers of the past and present are as well-known to Americans asthe country’s great scientists, writers and political leaders.
Major League Baseball officials are continually exploring ways toadd to these traditions. This year, for example, the Opening Daygame was to be played in Tokyo, Japan. The Oakland A’s and SeattleMariners were to play two games this week before flying back to theUnited States.
However, American baseball officials decided last week to cancelthe two games because of the threat of war in Iraq. Officials madethe decision after President Bush announced that Iraqi leader SaddamHussein had to leave country or face military action by the UnitedStates. Bud Selig (SEE-lig) is Major League Baseball’s top official.He said it would be unfair for the players and other employees to beaway from their families at this time. Baseball officials say thecancelled games will be played in the United States later thisseason.
This year, Major League Baseball is offering something new forcomputer users. It plans to show one-thousand games directly on theInternet. This is the first time that officials have offered a fullseason of games.
Major League Baseball offered its first live production of asingle game on the Internet in August of last year. This year, planscall for forty-five games to be shown each week. Computer users willbe able to watch games that do not involve their local team. Localgames can be seen ninety minutes after play ends.
The new service will cost about fifteen dollars a month or eightydollars for the complete season. Individual games cost about threedollars a game. You can find out more by going to Major LeagueBaseball’s Web site. The address is m-l-b-dot-com.
Puerto Rico
HOST:
Our question this week comes from China. VOA listener Zhiwenwants to know about the relationship between Puerto Rico and theUnited States. Puerto Rico is an island between the Caribbean Seaand the North Atlantic Ocean. Spanish and English are the languagesof its four-million people. Puerto Ricans are American citizens.They must obey American laws. But they govern themselves. They donot pay federal income tax.
Puerto Ricans can serve in the American military. However, theycannot vote in national elections. Their congressional delegate inWashington cannot vote either. Still, Puerto Rico has close ties,especially with New York. That city has a big Puerto Ricanpopulation.
Puerto Rico means “rich port” in Spanish. Spain gave up theisland in eighteen-ninety-eight after the Spanish-American War. TheUnited States declared Puerto Rico an American territory. Then, innineteen-fifty-two, Puerto Rico became a commonwealth with aconstitution that provides for self-government.
Puerto Ricans have voted three times to remain a commonwealth.But some want their island to become the fifty-first American state.Still others want their own nation. In the nineteen-fifties, PuertoRican nationalists tried to kill President Harry Truman and laterwounded five congressmen. Three years ago, Puerto Rico elected itsfirst female governor, Sila Calderon. During her campaign, shepromised to end more than sixty years of American Navy exercises onthe nearby island of Vieques.
Many Puerto Ricans said these artillery and bombing exerciseshurt economic development. They also worried for the environment –and their lives. The cancer rate among the people who live onVieques is higher than the Puerto Rican average.
In nineteen-ninety-nine, two bombs missed their targets. Asecurity guard was killed. Protests followed.
Puerto Ricans have succeeded in their goal for Vieques. The Navyplans to leave the island in May. Clean-up is expected to takeyears. But something new has come to Vieques. A big hotel openedlast month. It is expected to become the top employer on the island.
Year of the Blues
HOST:
Congress has declared two-thousand-three the “Year of the Blues.”This declaration honors an influential form of American music.Special music events and education programs will take placethroughout the year. As Phoebe Zimmerman reports, the goal is tospread the word about blues music and its history.
ANNCR:
To “feel blue” means to feel sad.Music has “blue notes” that sound sad. Blues music is rooted in theexperience of American blacks. Songs tell about hard work, lostlove, bad marriages and bad feelings.
Two-thousand-three is the Year of the Blues in honor of musicianW-C Handy. He did not invent it, but he became known as the fatherof the blues. One-hundred years ago, in nineteen-oh-three, W-C Handybegan to collect and publish some of the first blues music. He alsowrote his own. One of his most popular songs was “The MemphisBlues.” Here it is, performed by Louis Armstrong.
(MUSIC)
Blues music has influenced other forms, such as country, rock androll, folk and jazz. Musicians like B-B-King, Duke Ellington andCharlie Parker gained fame in the blues tradition. And not just men.Here is Bessie Smith performing “Any Woman’s Blues.”
(MUSIC)
Though still popular, blues music has not been taught much inAmerican schools. Several music organizations hope to change thatwith new teaching materials to use during the Year of the Blues.They say young people should know the roots of much of the musicthey listen to today. And the influence of the blues has spreadbeyond America. We leave you with a song by Britain’s RollingStones.
(MUSIC)
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. Please join us again next week for AMERICANMOSAIC — VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Jill Moss, CynthiaKirk and George Grow. Our studio engineer was Glen Matlock. And ourproducer was Paul Thompson.