Foreign Student Series: Getting a US Education From Home
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
This week in our Foreign Student Series, we talk about getting an American education online. A student named Hendra has written to us from Indonesia asking about a good online university.
Finding the right online program requires research, just like a traditional education. Talking to advisers and recruiters can help. Keep in mind, though, that they might have a financial interest to direct you to certain programs.
Avoid a diploma mill. We talked about this last week. Diploma mills, also known as degree mills, are nothing more than businesses. The education is poor quality, if they even require any class work to get a degree.
The Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognizes a group in Washington, D.C., to accredit schools that offer distance learning. One hundred ten programs in the United States and six other countries are accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council.
We asked the executive director, Michael Lambert, for advice on choosing a distance learning program. He says the first thing is to go on the CHEA Web site to find if a school is accredited. The address is c-h-e-a dot o-r-g.
Next, make sure the school offers what you need. Do you need a degree, or will a certificate or license be enough?
Another consideration is cost. Often the published price does not include all the costs — like books. Technology requirements can also add to the costs. Will you need to get new software or a high-speed Internet connection or even a new computer to take the classes you want?
Also, consider the level of interaction that an online program offers. You might never meet the teacher or other students in person. You need to be able to work without the supervision that you might find in a traditional class.
Finally, and this is our own advice, find out what others say. You might search on the Internet for comments or ratings or news stories about schools that interest you. Just remember that what people say is not always fair or true.
So now we have talked about getting an American education online. Next week, we begin explaining the steps to getting an American education in the United States.
And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our Foreign Student Series is online at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Bob Doughty.
Probable Sale of America’s Largest Sugar Cane Grower Pleases Activists for Everglades
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
The United States Sugar Corporation and the State of Florida are negotiating final sale of more than seventy-five thousand hectares of the company’s land to the state. The land is north of America’s famous Everglades National Park. The park is a protected wild area of wetlands sometimes called “a biological treasure.”
U.S. Sugar is America’s largest cane sugar producer. The sale is to be completed by November thirtieth. A temporary agreement calls for Florida to pay one-point-seven-five billion dollars for the land and other U.S. Sugar properties.
U.S. Sugar is to continue farming the land for six years. Then the company will surrender the land and its other holdings and close operations. It employs about one thousand seven hundred people.
Florida has been seeking to restore and improve the Everglades for years. The state government controls a large system of park, forest and wildlife centers in the area. Buying U.S. Sugar would give Florida an improved link between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. Farming and development in the area has cut off the natural flow of water. With farms removed, water could collect and run down into the part of the Everglades called the River of Grass. The River of Grass is a natural wetland.
Activists for the environment say they are extremely pleased by the planned sale. It comes after disputes between U.S. Sugar and state and private groups about water flow and pollution. One environmental activist group suggests creating environmental centers for tourists to provide jobs lost in the sale.
U.S. Sugar produces only about nine percent of the raw sugar in the nation. The United States gets its sugar mainly from Caribbean, South American and other countries.
The sugar industry in the United States has been trying hard to compete with less costly imported foreign sugar. U.S. Sugar is among leaders in representing sugar industry interests to national and state lawmakers. Some observers say the sugar industry will be less effective in influencing legislation without U.S. Sugar.
The company was established in nineteen thirty-one, during the Great Depression. The company’s Southern Gardens Citrus operation grows and processes citrus fruit.
And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Faith Lapidus.
Building a Windbreak to Protect Crops
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
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| A windbreak |
Farmers use different kinds of soil conservation methods to protect their land from damage by farming and the forces of nature. One important form of soil conservation is the use of windbreaks.
Windbreaks are barriers formed by trees and other plants. Farmers plant these barriers around their fields.
Windbreaks stop the wind from blowing soil away. They also keep the wind from destroying or damaging crops. They are very important for protecting grain crops.
There have been studies done on windbreaks in parts of West Africa, for example. These found that grain harvests can be twenty percent higher in fields protected by windbreaks compared to fields without such protection.
But windbreaks seem to work best when they allow some winds to pass through them. If the wall of trees and plants blocks the wind completely, then violent air motions will take place close to the ground. These motions will lift soil into the air where it will be blown away.
For this reason, a windbreak is best if it has only sixty to eighty percent of the trees and plants needed to make a solid line. An easy rule to remember is that windbreaks can protect areas up to ten times the height of the tallest trees in the windbreak.
There should be at least two lines in each windbreak. One line should be large trees. The second line, right next to it, can be shorter trees and other plants with leaves. Locally grown trees and plants are best for windbreaks.
If the quality of the land is not very good, studies have shown that one kind of tree that can grow well is the white pine. Another is the loblolly pine.
Windbreaks not only protect land and crops from the wind. Surplus trees can be cut down and used to provide wood.
Trees reduce the damaging effects of wind and rain. Their roots help protect soil from being washed away. And trees do something else — they can provide grazing animals with shade from the sun.
And that’s the VOA Special Agriculture Report. You can get more information about windbreaks and other forms of soil conservation at enterpriseworks.org. And you can also learn more about agriculture at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Jim Tedder
