Are the World’s Institution Lenders Ready to Reform? (1/2)

The African Development Bank held its yearly meeting in Shanghai, China earlier this month. The bank's chief economist announced the economic growth rate in Africa is expected to reach 6% this year. This is the highest in 20 years. Foreign demand for natural resources, especially oil, has helped create the growth.

Dennis de Tray is vice president of the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. He says that 6% economic growth in Africa is good. But he says long-term development on the continent will be a problem for generations.

Mister de Tray led a working group last year that provided independent advice to the bank's shareholders and its president, Donald Kaberuka. The Rwandan economist took over leadership of the African bank in 2005. 10 years earlier, the economic security of the African Development Bank had been in question. It was almost out of money.

Mister de Tray says needed reforms at the African bank are different from reforms announced at a meeting of the Asian Development Bank. That bank met earlier this month in Kyoto , Japan. Mister de Tray believes the Asian Development Bank is facing an identity crisis. The countries receiving the most money are becoming established nations with rich resources

 

How Foreign Citizens Become Doctors in the US (1/2)

We continue our Foreign Student Series this week with a question from a doctor at a hospital in Vietnam. Tran Kinh Thanh in Ho Chi Minh City asks how a foreign doctor can become an American doctor.

One way is to complete a medical residency in the United States. A residency is a period of hospital training for medical school graduates. To be accepted, foreign-trained doctors need approval from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. The process involves passing several tests. After that, foreign doctors can receive a visa to stay in the United States, at least for the training period.

Practicing medicine in the United States also involves other steps. But the first thing that foreign-trained doctors have to do is make sure they attended a recognized medical school. It has to be listed in the FAIMER International Medical Education Directory. FAIMER is the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research.

If their school is not listed, then foreign-trained doctors cannot be approved for a residency. One solution is to go back to medical school -- an American medical school.

 

How Foreign Citizens Become Doctors in the US (2/2)

125 schools in the United States belong to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The group says more than 1100 foreign citizens applied for the current school year. One-fourth of them were admitted last fall.

Almost all medical schools in the United States require applicants to report scores from the Medical College Admission Test.

Future doctors in the United States traditionally complete 4 years of medical school after undergraduate school. Then, as residents , they treat patients under the supervision of experienced doctors. A residency is generally between 3 and 7 years. The first year is called an intership.

The Association of American Medical Colleges publishes a book called Medical School Admissions Requirements. The newest one is for 2008-2009. The guide has details about every school as well as information for foreign students. The book costs 25 dollars and can be ordered through the association's Web site.

 

Breaking Into News: Journalism Education in US (1/2)
A student at vietanm National University has a question for our Foreign Student Series. Phuong Lan wants to earn a master's degree in the United States and would like to know about journalism programs.

109 programs are recognized by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Some of the best-known include the ones at the University of Southern California, the University of Missouri and the University of North Carolina. They also include the journalism schools at Columbia University in New York City and Northwestern University in Illinois.

Northwestern, for example, has the Medill School of Journalism. Medill says it provides its graduate students with the chance to study and work in the real world. Local newspapers and television stations carry their reports on government, crime and civic issues in the Chicago area. Other subjects include magazine publishing and Web design. And the Medill News Service offers experience reporting in Washington.

Breaking Into News: Journalism Education in US (2/2)

Graduate students at Medill can expect to pay more than 58000 dollars this coming school year. That includes a place to live, meals, books and costs like health insurance  .Medill also has an undergraduate program.

Medill scholarships or financial aid are not available to international students. Foreign students are advised to seek aid from their home country or groups like the Inter-American Press Association Scholarship Fund. Scholarship winners from Latin America and the Caribbean spend a year at a journalism school in the United States or Canada.

Journalism schools offer professional degrees, and some offer doctorates. Students may be able to earn a joint degree with another program like law or public policy.

It is true that the value of a journalism degree has been a traditional subject of debate among people in the media. But journalism schools offer training in skills like reporting, writing and production. They also teach about legal issues like plagiarism and libel law and freedom of speech. In addition they may offer classes in other areas, including public relations.

Foreign Student Series: Studying Religion in the US (2/2)

An accredited school is one that has passed inspection by a rating group like the association. All of the schools are Christian. But other schools train leaders in Judaism , Islam, Buddhism and other faith traditions.

The Fuller Theological Seminary opened in 1947. It has 3 schools: Theology, Intercultural Studies and Psychology. It also has a center for lifelong learning. Students at Fuller can earn a doctor of ministry degree or more than 20 other graduate degrees. Examples include a master's degree in marital and family therapy and a master's in global leadership.

There are also degree programs taught in Korean and Spanish. And Fuller admits some students through its English as a second language program. Some degree programs cost more than others. One year at Fuller can cost anywhere from 12000 to 24000 dollars.

International students can apply for scholarships and grants. But Fuller says that normally they will not be permitted to work during the time of their studies. The same is true for family members.

'Two Faces of Asia' Test Future of Development Bank (1/2)
The Asian Development Bank was created in 1966, 2 years after the African Development Bank. Today both of them are talking about needed reforms to better serve their member countries. Last month we looked at the issues in Africa where there is still widespread need for development aid.

The situation is different for the Asia-Pacific area. The Asian Development Bank was created to raise money from rich industrial nations for loans to support economic growth. Now there are surpluses in Asia, and less and less need for those loans.

Rajat Nag is managing director general of the bank; we called him in Manila . He says the bank is debating how to deal with the two faces of Asia. Economic growth in many countries has been great -- ten percent a year in China, for example. The bank's members have about 2 trillion dollars in savings that could be invested. Yet more than 600 million people in Asia are still without clean water.

Bringing Color to Life With Natural Dyes (2/2)

 

Mix 8 grams of alum with 7 grams of cream of tartar in a small amount of hot water. Add the solution to a metal pan of cool water. Next, add the wool and place the mixture over heat. Slowly bring the liquid to 82 degrees Celsius . Heat the mixture for 45 minutes. After it cools, remove the wool and wash it.

To prepare the dye solution, cover 30 grams of onionskins with water. Use only the dry, brown outer skins. Boil the liquid until the onionskins lose their color, about 45 minutes,. Remove the skins after the dye cools.

Now it is time to dye the wool. Place the wool into the dye and heat the mixture. Bring it to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to 82 degrees. Now heat the dye for about 45 minutes or until the wool is the desired color. Keep in mind that wet wool looks darker than it is.

Once the dye cools, remove the wool and wash it. Now the wool is orange or yellow. Or at least it should be.

Something a Bone Will Never Say: Give Me a Break (2/2)

People who are seriously injured can go into shock. They might feel cold, dizzy and unable to think clearly. Shock requires immediate medical attention. But while broken bones can be painful, they are generally not life-threatening. Treatment depends on the kind of fracture. A doctor takes X-rays to see the break and sets a broken bone to make sure it is in the correct position.

Severe breaks may require an operation to hold the bone together with metal plates and screws Next, a person usually gets a castput around the area of the break. The hard bandage holds the bone in place while it heals. Casts are usually worn for 1 to 2 months. In some cases, instead of a cast, a splint made of plastic or metal will be secured over the area to restrict movement.

Doctors say broken bones should be treated quickly because they can restrict blood flow or cause nerve damage. Also, the break will start to repair itself, so you want to make sure the bone is lined up correctly.

Bones need calcium and vitamin D to grow and reach their full strength. Keeping your bones strong with exercise may also help prevent fractures.

Employers in the United States expect to hire almost 20% more college graduates this year than last year. So says the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

The group says employers are most interested in students with business, engineering and computer-related training . There is also great demand for business graduates with a master's of business administration or other advanced degree. Employers say they plan to increase hiring of M.B.A. graduates by 18%.

Increases in starting pay are also a sign of the demand for business and technical majors. The average pay offer to newly hired marketing graduates is reported up by more than 10% over last year. The increase is almost 8% for graduates in business administration.

The job market for college graduates has grown stronger and stronger since demand reached a low point in 2002. The unemployment rate for all workers is four and a half percent. But people with a bachelor's degree have a jobless rate under 2%.

Are the World’s Institution Lenders Ready to Reform? (1/2)

The African Development Bank held its yearly meeting in Shanghai, China earlier this month. The bank's chief economist announced the economic growth rate in Africa is expected to reach 6% this year. This is the highest in 20 years. Foreign demand for natural resources, especially oil, has helped create the growth.

Dennis de Tray is vice president of the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. He says that 6% economic growth in Africa is good. But he says long-term development on the continent will be a problem for generations.

Mister de Tray led a working group last year that provided independent advice to the bank's shareholders and its president, Donald Kaberuka. The Rwandan economist took over leadership of the African bank in 2005. 10 years earlier, the economic security of the African Development Bank had been in question. It was almost out of money.

Mister de Tray says needed reforms at the African bank are different from reforms announced at a meeting of the Asian Development Bank. That bank met earlier this month in Kyoto , Japan. Mister de Tray believes the Asian Development Bank is facing an identity crisis. The countries receiving the most money are becoming established nations with rich resources

A Brief History of the World Trade Organization
A question from Vietnam, listener ** Tan wants to know more about the World Trade Organization and history. The World Trade Organization came into existence in 1995. It operates a system of trade rules. It serves as a place for nations to settle disputes and * agreements to reduce trade barriers. The newest of its 150 members, Vietnam, joined in January. But the roots of the WTO date back to World War Two and the years that followed. In 1944, a meeting took place in * Woods, new *, the international Monetary Conference. There, * agreed to create the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But they could not agree on an organization to deal with international trade. Three years later in 1947, 23 nations approved the General Agreement on * and trade or *. It was meant to be *. Trade * under * were carried out in a series of talks called rounds. The first round lowered import taxes on 1/5 of world trade. Later rounds produces additional cuts and * added more issues.

Newsmaker: Robert Zoellick, Nominee to Lead World Bank

Mr wolfowitz resigned last month ,his last day is June 30th ,and the investigation found that he violated bank rules in 2005 when he negotiated a pay increase for his girlfriend a bank employee, he denied any wrong doing and said bank officials share responsibility for this dispute ,he joined the bank as president in 2005 after serving as deputy secretary of defense .
European nations let efforts to remove paul wolfowitz accusing him of corruption because of the pay issue , but they generally did not support the change in appointment process.
Traditionally the united states has appointed of the world bank chief while Europe has chosen leaders of the international monetary fund ,the two lenders were created in the 1940s
Some countries however have criticizes the 60 years old tradition ,they say ,it makes the development lenders into tools of rich nations ,brazil, south Africa and Australia urge the united states to appoint on new bank president ,using an open process not limited by nationality
The world bank is owed by its 184 member nations , many development exports and others are calling for reforms in its subrations and its lending polities for poor countries ,but rebuilding relations and respect could be Robert Zoellick’s first job

Rabbits are easy to raise. The long-eared animals are clean and quiet. They do not need a lot of room. And you do not have to spend a lot of money to feed them. With rabbits, you get a big return from a small investment.

One male and two females will produce in a year as many as fifty more rabbits. That is enough to provide a good supply of meat for a family. Rabbit meat is high in protein and low in fat.

You do not have to be a farmer to raise rabbits. You can raise them in the city.

There are about 60 different kinds of rabbits. The ones that produce the most meat from the least amount of feed weigh four and one-half kilograms.

Rabbit houses are easy to make with wood and wire fencing material. They do not have to be very big. But each rabbit must have its own little room in the house. This is very important. Each room should be about 75centimeters wide, 60centimeters high and one meter deep.

Fencing is used for the sides and floor of the rabbit house. The holes in the wire fencing should be about one centimeter square. Wastes from the animals will drop through the holes. This keeps the rabbit house clean and dry.

Rabbits need a lot of fresh air and sunlight. Cover the sides of the rabbit house only to protect it from rain.

Rabbits eat mostly grass and leaves. Feeding containers hung on the outside of the house let the rabbits eat whenever they want. They simply pull the grass and leaves through the holes in the wire.

Each room should have fresh water. The water containers should be heavy so the rabbits cannot turn them over. Or you can tie the containers to the wire.

One month after mating, female rabbits give birth to about eight babies. In two months, a baby rabbit should weigh about two kilograms. This is big enough to make a meal for a small family.

Rabbits are also valuable for their fur. It takes time, skill and money to prepare the fur and skin for use. If you have only a few rabbits, it probably would be best to let a professional tanner prepare the fur for you. Skill is also needed to remove the fur from the rabbit.

But rabbits do not have to be dead to be valuable. Many people enjoy keeping rabbits as friendly pets. And rabbit manure makes an excellent fertilizer. It can be mixed directly into the soil to improve the growth of vegetables, trees and flowering plants. Today we have the second half of a report about some concerns with the use of drug-treated coronary stents. These are small metal tubes designed to be placed inside arteries in heart patients. The stent is usually left in permanently after doctors clean out a narrowed artery with angioplasty treatment. Doctors expand the stent to hold the passage open so blood can flow normally to the heart.

Medicine on the stent is released slowly over time to stop the development of scar tissue. Scar tissue can cause the artery to become narrow again.

These devices have been approved in the United States for the past four years for patients with simple blockages and no history of heart attack. But some doctors use drug-eluting stents, as they are called, for patients with more serious heart problems. This is known as "off-label use" and is permitted.

But two recent studies questioned the safety of off-label use of drug-treated stents. Both found that some patients with more serious conditions were more likely to suffer a renarrowing of the artery. This is called restenosis.

So far, researchers have mostly investigated the stents themselves and how they are made. But now attention is turning also to the way they are being used.

The question is how much of the problem of stent failure may be the result of stents not being put in right. Or maybe they are not being expanded enough to fit firmly in the artery.

One recent study found that stents were incorrectly placed in almost seventy percent of the patients in that study.

Now a heart research organization hopes to solve the mystery. The Cardiovascular Research Foundation is a big supporter of the use of drug-treated stents. The foundation is going to carry out a large study. Spokeswoman Irma Damhuis says it will involve eleven thousand patients at ten centers in the United States and two in Germany. A heart doctor with the foundation will be one of the lead investigators.

Researchers will examine how doctors implant and expand stents and how the methods they use might affect outcomes. The study will deal especially with serious artery blockages that have been found a year or more after a stent was put in place.

Today we have the second half of a report on the history of the World Trade Organization.

The W.T.O. was created in 1995 after the eighth round of world trade talks. The rounds began in 1947, each one on different areas of trade.

The W.T.O. tried to launch a ninth round in Seattle in1999. But trade ministers argued and free trade opponents rioted.

The W.T.O. launched the ninth round in Doha, Qatar, in November of 2001. The new round was named the Doha Development Agenda. This was meant to show developing countries that the goals included reducing poverty.

Two other ministerial conferences took place: in Cancun, Mexico, in2003 and Hong Kong in 2005. There was little progress toward agreement on major issues.

W.T.O. Director General Pascal Lamy of France suspended the negotiations last July. But talks restarted in January.

Mister Lamy said he planned to send a strong message this week to leaders of the Group of Eight and other nations at meetings in Germany. He said their active support is needed for a successful and balanced outcome. Last month he said the negotiations were moving but not very fast.

Twenty-one issues are listed under the Doha Development Agenda. At the heart, though, is agriculture. Developing nations want industrial countries to end farm supports that critics say drive down prices on world markets.

The United States has pushed for as much as an eighty-five percent reduction and an expanded list of banned subsidies. European countries have resisted deep cuts. Last week, the new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said France would veto any agreement that did not meet its requirements.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson warns that if the talks fail now, they would not reopen before 2010.

The European Union, the United States, India and Brazil are preparing for talks later this month. These four major W.T.O. members are working for a deal on the Doha round by the end of the year.

The World Trade Organization currently has 150 members. The largest economy not a member is Russia. After years of trying, Russia hopes to be in the W.T.O. as early as January.

The United States has urged China to accept new safety rules for its food and drug exports. American officials said the rules would include a new list of Chinese exporters.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt made the statements. They spoke the day after high-level trade talks between the two nations.

The Americans met last week in Washington with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi.

The United States Food and Drug Administration said inspectors rejected more than one hundred shipments of food imports from China during April alone. The inspectors rejected them for being unclean or containing harmful substances.

China has a lot to lose if people fear its food and drugs. The nation earns an estimated thirty billion dollarsyearly in food and drug exports. Companies in the United States would also suffer. For example, American companies depend on China for large amounts of apple juice.

Last week, United States health inspectors began examining toothpaste from China. The government acted after tubes of the teeth-cleaning substance were sent to Panama and the Dominican Republic. The toothpaste was found to contain diethylene glycol, a deadly chemical. But no deaths linked to the toothpaste have been reported.

In recent months, wheat flour produced in China for use in pet food sickened or killed many dogs and cats in the United States and Canada.

Critics of Chinese imports suspect that Chinese companies placed the industrial chemical melamine in the wheat flour to increase the amount of protein.

Worries increased when chicken, fish and pork in the United States were also found to contain melamine. The animals got the melamine in their feed. The chemical is used to make plastics and fertilizers. It is not meant for human food.

There also have been incidents of bad effects from foods made and used inside China. For example, a number of babies died because of falsely marked baby milk. Earlier this month, China announced new measures to make food companies improve conditions.

the reason they probably seem to conflict is that a lot of beautiful people don't have a reason to be smart & study. they're like, i don't need to use my brain 'cause i already have what i want. and we all know that idle brain makes one dumb. you have to keep exercising it to stay smart (i read this somewhere, don't ask me).

and then there are a lot of smart people who don't have a reason to be beautiful, look nice. they'll say they don't need to look pretty (nice dress, make up etc )etc 'cause they already have a brain.

most of the smartest people i know are also some of the best looking but they don't let it show. it's always hidden behind thick huge glasses, weird clothing , unstyled hair , nerdy pose etc people think they are ugly until they get a make over.

there are some really good looking people that i know that are really smart if only they put an effort into picking up a book for once rather than going to the mall repeatedly to get the new pair of shoes or whatever.


my point: you can be both if you try to be and learn to balance your life.