The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is one of the smaller museums in New York City. It lets visitors experience how early immigrants to the United States lived. The museum is a building at Ninety-Seven Orchard Street. It was built in eighteen sixty-three. It was one of the first tenements in New York City.

The word “tenement” comes from a Latin word meaning “to hold.” A tenement building holds many rooms where different families lived.

The word is not used much anymore in the United States. When people use the word today, they mean an old crowded building where poor families live in terrible, unhealthy conditions. But in the eighteen hundreds, the word “tenement” simply meant a building in which many families lived.

Later, many immigrant families improved their living conditions by moving from the lower east side to other areas of New York City. Some lived in the same kinds of buildings, but the living areas were cleaner and larger. They did not want to call them tenements, so they called them apartment buildings instead.

History experts say more than half the people in New York City lived in tenements in eighteen sixty-three. To get one of these living areas, a family had to pay one month’s rent to the owner, usually about ten dollars. This money gave the family the use of about one hundred square meters of living space, often divided into three rooms.

The building at Ninety-Seven Orchard Street shows the kind of spaces where families lived. The front room was the largest. It was the only one with a window. Behind it were a kitchen for cooking and a small bedroom for sleeping. The apartment had no running water, no bathroom, toilet or shower. There were six places where people left their body wastes in the back yard, next to the only place to get drinking water. Such unhealthy conditions led to the spread of disease.

Over the years, New York City officials passed laws to improve conditions in the tenements. The owners of Ninety-Seven Orchard Street placed gas lighting in the building in the eighteen nineties. They added water and indoor toilets in nineteen-oh-five, and electric power in nineteen twenty-four. Then they refused to make any more improvements. They closed the building in nineteen thirty-five.

In nineteen ninety-eight, the federal government declared the building a protected National Historic Place.

Museum officials researched the history of the building and its twenty apartments. They found more than one thousand objects that belonged to people who lived there. These include kitchen devices, medicine bottles, letters, newspapers, money and pieces of cloth. They also learned the histories of many of the seven thousand people from more than twenty countries who lived there. And they spoke with and recorded memories of people who lived at Ninety-Seven Orchard Street as children.

Museum officials used this information to re-create some of the apartments as they would have looked during different time periods in the building’s history. These apartments are what people see when they visit the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. Let us join one of the guided visits. First we climb several flights of worn stairs. It is a very hot day and we feel the heat in the dark, narrow hallway.

Now we enter the apartment of the Gumpertz family. They were Jews from Germany who lived here in the eighteen seventies.

On October seventh, eighteen seventy-four, Julius Gumpertz dressed for work, left the building and never returned. He left his wife Nathalie and their four children, ages eight months to seven years. Nathalie was forced to support her children by making clothing in the apartment. She earned about eight dollars a week, enough to pay for the apartment each month and send her children to school.

The Gumpertz apartment has a sewing machine and other tools similar to those Nathalie used in her work. She made the largest room into her workspace. That was where she saw people who wanted clothes made or repaired. It was also where she did the sewing.

The next apartment we visit belonged to the Baldizzi family. They came from Italy and were Catholic. Adolfo Baldizzi, his wife Rosaria and their two children moved to Orchard Street in nineteen twenty-eight. They became friends with other families in the building. Their daughter Josephine liked to help other people. Every Friday night she would turn on the lights in the nearby apartment of the Rosenthal family. The Rosenthals could not turn on the lights themselves because it was the start of the Jewish holy day and no work was permitted.

Josephine Baldizzi remembered those long ago days. Here is a recording of her. She tells how she felt each week after when she saw Missus Rosenthal in the window motioning for her to come and turn on the lights:

JOSEPHINE BALDIZZI:

"It made me very proud to have to do that. I used to feel good that she chose me to do that job for her. And I can still see her till today—the vision of her in that window. It has never left my memory."

Now we visit the apartment that belonged to the Rogarshevsky family of Lithuania. They moved to Ninety-Seven Orchard Street between nineteen-oh-seven and nineteen ten. Abraham and Fannie Rogarshevsky had six children. Abraham developed the disease tuberculosis. We can see some of the things used to fight the disease. But the efforts did not cure him. Abraham Rogarshevsky died in nineteen eighteen.

On the table we see the kinds of foods that family and friends would have eaten after Abraham’s funeral. They include hard-boiled eggs and round bread. Both represent the circle of life, from birth to death.

Fannie Rogarshevsky was faced with the same problem as Nathalie Gumpertz. What could she do to support her family and continue to live in the apartment? She got the building owner to let her clean apartments and do other work in exchange for rent.

Now we enter the apartment of the Levine family. They were Jews from Poland. Jennie and Harris Levine moved into the building in the early eighteen nineties. They lived there for more than ten years. During that time, Jennie gave birth to four children. Her husband and his workers produced clothing in the front room.

We see Jennie in the bedroom awaiting the birth of her third child. We also see the clothing shop as it looked after the workers had gone home at the end of the day. We hear stories about the many immigrants who have worked in the clothing industry in New York City.

Still another apartment is an example of living history. We can visit it on a special tour. It belonged to the Confino family in nineteen sixteen. Abraham and Rachel Confino came to New York from Turkey. They were Sephardic Jews, people whose ancestors had been born in Spain, North Africa or Middle Eastern countries.

An actress who plays thirteen-year-old Victoria Confino welcomes us. She tells about Victoria’s experience living in the building. Here, she explains the language of Sephardic Jews, called Ladino, and sings part of a sad Ladino song:

VICTORIA CONFINO:

“Oh, it’s a very mixed up language. It’s like a little bit Spanish...we call it Judeo Espagnol...and it’s a little bit Turkish, a little bit Hebrew...a lot of languages mixed up all together.”

Officials say one of the purposes of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is to use history to explore modern social issues. For example, what kinds of problems do recent immigrants face while trying to build new lives in America?

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum cooperates with other international historic places around the world. These places are part of the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience.

They include the District Six Museum in South Africa, the Gulag Museum in Russia, and Project To Remember in Argentina. Others are the Terezin Memorial in the Czech Republic, the Workhouse in England and the Slave House in Senegal. Officials of these historic places are working together to help explore and solve modern problems in their own societies.

Scientists think they are a step closer to a new drug to treat schistosomiasis. More than two hundred million people suffer from this parasitic worm disease. Most live in developing nations in tropical climates. About ten percent of victims become seriously disabled from internal bleeding, iron loss, organ damage or other effects.

A team in the United States found that chemical compounds known as oxadiazoles can target an enzyme needed for the survival of Schistosoma. This is the group of flatworms that cause schistosomiasis.

The scientists tested oxadiazoles on laboratory mice. They found that one compound killed the parasite at every level of development – from larva to adult. The study also showed that the compound was active against all three major species of Schistosoma worms that infect humans.

The National Institutes of Health supported the research. Scientists from Illinois State University and the Chemical Genomics Center at N.I.H. reported their findings in the journal Nature Medicine.

Biology professor David Williams led the research. He says the Schistosoma parasite needs oxygen to survive. Oxygen use produces oxygen-free radicals that can destroy an organism. The worm has a protective enzyme. But Professor Williams says the experimental drug disables this enzyme, causing the worm to self-destruct.

Since the nineteen eighties, doctors in more than seventy tropical nations have used one main drug to treat schistosomiasis. Public health experts worry that the worms will become resistant to this drug, praziquantel.

Each year, two hundred eighty thousand people die of schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia or snail fever. The microscopic worms infect snails, which in turn lay infected eggs. Humans become infected when they enter fresh water where the snails live.

The worms dig through skin to enter the body. They move into blood vessels that supply the intestinal and urinary systems. Then, if worm eggs in human waste enter fresh water, more snails and people become infected.

More studies are needed on the experimental new drug. The scientists say the results in mice were better than all the targets set by the World Health Organization for new schistosomiasis compounds. They hope the drug will be ready for testing in humans in four to five years.

Parsley is an ancient green and a respected addition to many foods. But other times, its job is just to make a mealtime plate look pretty. Poor parsley, valued for its looks, then thrown away.

Yet parsley is a good source of vitamins and other nutrients. The taste is a little strong for some people, but others chew on parsley to freshen their breath.

Curly parsley is the kind that often ends up being used just for appearance. Many gardeners grow curly parsley as a border for flowerbeds.

Flat-leaf parsley is easier to work with for cooking. This kind is often called Italian or French parsley.

Do you know about a third kind of parsley? Hamburg parsley has flat leaves that can be used for the same purposes as other parsley. But Hamburg parsley has a large root which is used as a vegetable -- for example, to add flavor to soups.

Hamburg parsley is popular, not surprisingly, in Germany, home to the city of Hamburg.

Parsley is used in foods such as tabouli, a traditional Lebanese salad, and is often served with lamb, fish and beef dishes. Parsley is an herb if you use just the greens. If the root is used, then parsley is considered a vegetable.

Some gardeners suggest that to get the best tasting parsley, you should plant new seeds every year. You can get parsley to grow faster by pouring warm water over the seeds. Leave the seeds in the water overnight. Then you can grow them in containers indoors or plant them outside.

Charlie Nardozzi is a writer for the National Gardening Association in the United States. He says parsley grows best when temperatures are under twenty-one degrees Celsius. In colder climates, parsley can go into the ground two to three weeks before the last freeze is likely to happen.

Charlie Nardozzi says parsley likes to grow in sunny places or in partial sun. The seeds need rich, moist soil. Plant the seeds about fifteen to twenty-five centimeters apart. Water regularly during the first month. After that, parsley does not need very much water.

Ron Waldrop is a county extension director for the University of Illinois. He says you can harvest parsley by cutting most of the plant, or leave more of the plant in the ground for a second crop.

To dry parsley, tie the plant stems together and hang them upside down in a warm, dark, airy place. The leaves should be dry in a week or two. After that, store them in a tightly closed container.

South Africa has the highest number of H.I.V. cases of any country in the world. An estimated five and a half million people are infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Fifty-five percent of them are women.

Last May, the cabinet of President Thabo Mbeki approved a five-year plan to guide efforts against AIDS in South Africa. For the plan to succeed, officials agreed that the nation had to deal with poverty, violence and discrimination facing women.

Now, a report from Amnesty International looks at the struggles of poor rural women living with H.I.V. in South Africa. The human rights group says the women face oppression and human rights abuses. And it says other women who feel socially and economically weak are at a higher risk of becoming infected with H.I.V.

Amnesty researcher Mary Rayner says rural women have little control in their relationships with men. Amnesty gathered statements from thirty-seven women in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal provinces. They said that sometimes, when they tried to ask their sexual partners to use protection, they might experience verbal aggression or violence.

The report says many rural women with H.I.V. do not have enough money to travel to health centers for treatment. They might not even have enough money for food. Unemployment is a major problem.

Amnesty International released its report in London last week. Also in London, Scottish singer Annie Lennox promoted her new charity single called "Sing." The aim is to raise money for the Treatment Action Campaign, an H.I.V./AIDS organization in South Africa.

The Continental Congress set a date for the new plan of government to take effect. The first Wednesday in March, seventeen eighty-nine.

In seventeen eighty-nine, the population of the United States was about four million. The thirteen states had been loosely united for a short time, only about ten years. Before that, they were separate colonies of Britain.

Because the colonies were separate, their people developed different ways of life. Their economies and traditions were different. As a result, Americans were fiercely independent. An emergency -- the crisis of the revolution -- brought them together.

Together, they celebrated the Fourth of July, the day America declared its independence from Britain. Together, they fought British troops to make that declaration a political reality. Together, they joined under the Latin phrase 'E Pluribus Unum' -- one out of many.

Yet when the war ended, the soldiers returned to their home states. They still thought of themselves as New Yorkers, or Virginians, or Marylanders. They did not consider themselves a national people.

Americans of seventeen eighty-nine were sharply divided on the need for a national government. Many were afraid the new government would not survive. They feared the anarchy that would result if it failed. Others hoped it would fail. They wanted strong state governments, not a strong central government.

For those who supported the national government, there were good reasons to hope for success. The country had great natural resources. And its people were honest and hard-working.

Also, in seventeen eighty-nine, the American economy was improving after the destruction of the Revolutionary War. Agriculture, trade, and shipbuilding were coming back to life. Roads, bridges, and canals were being built to improve travel and communication.

The country's economy had many problems, however. Two major issues had to be settled. One was repayment of loans made to support the Revolutionary Army. The other was creation of a national money system. Both issues needed quick action.

But before the new government could act, the old government had work to do. It had to decide where the capital city of the new nation would be. It also had to hold elections for president and Congress. First, the question of a capital.

At the time the states ratified the new Constitution, the Continental Congress was meeting in New York City. And that is where it decided to place the new government. Later, the capital would be moved to Philadelphia for a while. Finally, it would be established at Washington, D.C.

Next, the Continental Congress had to decide when the states would choose a president. It agreed on March fourth, seventeen eighty-nine. That was when the new Constitution would go into effect.

The eleven states that ratified the Constitution chose electors to vote for a president. The result was not a surprise. They chose the hero of the Revolutionary War: George Washington. No one opposed the choice.

Washington learned of his election while at his home in Virginia, Mount Vernon. He left for New York and was inaugurated there on April thirtieth.

Members of the new Congress also were elected on March fourth.

Now, for the first time, Americans had something many of them had talked about for years -- a working national government. There was much work to be done. The machinery of government was new, untested. Quick decisions were needed to keep the new nation alive and healthy.

One of the first things the Congress did was to re-open debate on the Constitution itself. Several states had set a condition for approving the document. They said a Bill of Rights must be added to the Constitution, listing the rights of all citizens.

When the Constitution was written, a majority of the states already had their own bills of rights. So some delegates to the convention said a national bill was unnecessary. Others argued that the Constitution would be the highest law of the land, higher than state laws. So a national bill of rights was needed to guarantee the rights of the citizens of the new nation.

Time proved this to be a wise decision. The Bill of Rights gave the Constitution a special strength. Many Americans consider the Bill of Rights to be the heart and spirit of the Constitution.

What is this Bill of Rights that is so important to the citizens of the United States? It is contained in the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

The First Amendment is the basic statement of American freedoms. It protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

The First Amendment guarantees that religion and government will be separate in America. It says Congress will make no law establishing an official religion. Nor will Congress interfere in the peoples' right to worship as they choose. The First Amendment also says Congress will not make laws restricting the peoples' right to gather peacefully and to make demands on the government.

The Second Amendment guarantees the peoples' right to keep weapons as part of an organized militia. The Third Amendment says people may not be forced to let soldiers stay in their homes during peacetime.

The Fourth through the Eighth Amendments all protect the peoples' rights in the criminal justice system.

The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures. If police want to search a suspect's house or papers, they must get special permission from a judge. The document from the judge must say exactly what police are looking for. And it must describe the place to be searched.

The Fifth Amendment says no one can be put on trial for a serious crime unless a grand jury has first examined the evidence and agreed that a trial is needed. No one can be put on trial more than once on the same criminal charge. And no one can be forced to give evidence against himself in court.

The Fifth Amendment also says no one can lose their freedom, property, or life except by the rules of law. And the government cannot take people's property for public use without paying them a fair price.

The Sixth Amendment says all persons accused of crimes have the right to a fair and speedy public trial by a jury. This guarantees that people cannot be kept in prison for a long time unless a jury has found them guilty of a crime.

The Sixth Amendment also guarantees the right of accused persons to be defended by a lawyer. It says they must be informed of the nature and cause of the charges against them. And it says they have the right to face and question their accusers.

The Seventh Amendment guarantees a person's right to have a jury decide his legal dispute with another person. The Eighth Amendment bars all cruel and unusual punishments.

The Ninth Amendment provides protection for other rights not stated directly in the Constitution. And the Tenth Amendment says any powers which the Constitution does not give to the national government belong to the states or to the people themselves.

A majority of the states approved the Bill of Rights by the end of seventeen ninety-one. As we have seen, these amendments limited the powers of the national government. As a result, many anti-Federalists ended their opposition. They accepted the new government. Many agreed to help with the job of building the new nation.

President Washington wanted the best men -- Federalist or anti-Federalist -- to be in his administration. The new nation needed strong leadership. George Washington provided it.

Mary Kay started a company in nineteen sixty-three with a five thousand dollar investment. Today, Mary Kay Cosmetics is an international company worth thousands of millions of dollars.

Mary Kathlyn Wagner was born in the state of Texas in nineteen eighteen. For much of her childhood, she cared for her sick father while her mother worked long hours at a public eating place. Mary Kay married Ben Rogers when she was seventeen years old. They had three children before he left home to serve in World War Two. When he returned, their marriage ended. Mary Kay looked for a job so she could support her children.

Mary Kay began selling different kinds of products. At first, she sold books. Later, she visited peoples’ homes to show how home care products such as cleaning fluids and equipment helped ease housework.

One night, Mary Kay was showing these products at the home of Ova Heath Spoonemore. Later in the evening, Missus Spoonemore began giving her guests some home made skin care products. The products were developed by her father, J.W. Heath, in Arkansas. Mary Kay tried the skin care products and found they made her skin smooth.

Mary Kay was successful selling home care products. Her supervisors praised her work. But they never increased her earnings. She left the company after a man she trained was given a more important job than she had.

Mary Kay said later that she learned from this experience. It taught her that men did not believe that a woman could succeed in business. She decided to prove them wrong. So she bought the rights to Mister Heath’s skin care products and started her own company. She paid five hundred dollars for the legal rights to the products.

The Mary Kay Cosmetics company began operating in Dallas, Texas, in nineteen sixty-three. Mary Kay’s twenty-year-old son Richard was the company’s financial official. The idea was to sell skin care products through demonstrations in homes and offices. Nine sales representatives were chosen to sell the products.

The sales representatives were independent workers. They bought products like soaps and skin softening liquids from the company and sold them at higher prices to friends, family members and other individuals. Mary Kay decided that each representative who brought other sales women into the company would receive part of the new person’s earnings. That way, experienced sales representatives would be willing to help train new ones.

Mary Kay told the women who worked for her that to be successful in life a person should put God first, family second and work third. She said women must discover how to be good wives and mothers while at the same time learning how to succeed in work.

Two years later, in nineteen sixty-five, the company was selling almost one million dollars worth of products. Mary Kay once said that success came fast because she did not have any time to waste. She was already forty-five years old when she started the company. She said a woman needs money fast as she gets older.

Now Mary Kay Cosmetics is one of the largest direct sellers of skin care products in the world. It develops and tests skin care and beauty products for the face, body, hair and nails -- many more than it started selling in nineteen sixty-three. Today, Mary Kay Cosmetics has sales of more than two billion dollars a year. It has more than one million sales representatives in more than thirty countries around the world. You can find Mary Kay products and sales representatives in Argentina, India, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, and China, to name a few.

Every year since nineteen sixty-five, Mary Kay Cosmetics has held a yearly conference in Dallas for its sales representatives. The first one took place in one large room. Mary Kay cooked food for two hundred people and served it on paper plates.

As the company grew, so did the conference. Now, more than thirty-five thousand sales representatives and company officials pay to attend education meetings at the yearly conference. A special event at the three-day conference is Awards Night. That is when prizes are given to those representatives with the most sales for the year. Awards Night also includes a show in which famous singers and dancers perform.

The Awards Night winners receive special paid holidays, jewels, furs, and pink Cadillac automobiles. In Germany, winners receive a pink Mercedes Benz, and in Taiwan they are given a pink Toyota. By nineteen ninety-four, seven thousand cars had been given to sales representatives. The cars are pink because Mary Kay products come in pink containers. Mary Kay liked that color.

Mary Kay believed that recognizing good work is the best way to increase a company’s sales. She said her company tried to have competitions in which everyone has a chance to win. She did not want to organize the kind of competition where someone has to hurt another person in order to win.

So the Mary Kay competitions are designed around the idea that it is best to compete with yourself. That means every individual is trying to do better then she did last week or last year.

Competition winners are rewarded well. For example, winners of one of the competitions get a gold pin called the Ladder of Success. Sales representatives earn a pin by selling a large number of products. Then they earn jewels for the pin as they increase their sales. Each jewel is placed higher on the ladder than the others. The pin of a top sales representative is covered with diamonds.

Mary Kay’s third husband, Mel Ash, died of cancer in nineteen eighty. She wanted to help find a cure for the disease. At first, she helped organizations raise money for research. Later, she started the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation, a non-profit group that provides money to support research about cancers affecting women. In two thousand one, the company and foundation expanded their goals in an effort to help stop violence against women.

Through the years, Mary Kay Ash received many business awards. She was named one of America’s twenty-five most influential women in nineteen eighty-five. She became a member of the National Business Hall of Fame in nineteen ninety-six.

Mary Kay Ash wrote three books. The first book, “Mary Kay,” told the story of her life. More than one million copies in several languages have been sold. She described her business ideas in the book “Mary Kay on People Management.” Her third book was released in nineteen ninety-five. It is called “Mary Kay--You Can Have It All.” The money earned from its sales went to help fight cancer.

Mary Kay Ash continued her involvement in her business until she suffered a stroke in nineteen ninety-six. She died in November, two thousand one.

Business experts say she was an important business leader who cared about people. Mary Kay sales representatives say she developed a way for women to earn money and still spend time with their families.

One example is Valerie Yokie. She started selling Mary Kay products twenty years ago. She was an official at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., but left her job to stay home with her two small children. She became interested in the Mary Kay Cosmetics company because it was a way to get started in a business for a small amount of money. She paid less than one hundred dollars for her supplies.

After one year and one half, Missus Yokie became a director of the company and started helping other women become successful Mary Kay representatives. Soon after this, her husband lost his job. Then he developed cancer. Valerie Yokie has supported her family for twenty years through Mary Kay Cosmetics. She is an extremely successful businesswoman. She has won many prizes in Mary Kay competitions, and receives a new pink Cadillac every two years.

Valerie Yokie’s story is similar to those of other Mary Kay representatives. They agree that Mary Kay Ash changed the business world. They say she opened a door for women by providing them with a way to earn money that balances work and family.

The aim in parkour is to jump, climb or run over and around any wall, staircase, or fence blocking your path. Usually, this is done in a city environment. If you have seen the beginning of the James Bond movie "Casino Royale," then you have seen an excellent example of parkour.

The name comes from the French word parcours, which means route or path. A man who performs parkour is called a traceur. A woman is a traceuse.

A young Frenchman, David Belle, developed parkour in the nineteen nineties. His father’s stories of being a fireman as well as an acrobat influenced him. His childhood friend, Sebastien Foucan, is the actor shown in the “Casino Royale” movie. Foucan is considered to have developed free-running, which is a more artistic and expressive version of parkour.

David Belle traveled to India and says one way he trained was by watching monkeys jump from tree to tree. But for Belle and others, parkour is as much a mental exercise as a physical one. The aim is to become so skillful, it is almost unnecessary to think about the different actions in running through a path full of barriers.

Parkour is not exactly a sport. It was not developed for competition. It is more about learning to control mind and body in difficult situations.

There are many basic movements in parkour. One example is where traceurs swing through the narrow space between two bars while keeping their body level with the ground. This is called the underbar. Other movements are the tic-tac and the kong vault jump.

Skillful traceurs seem to go against the laws of gravity.

The popularity has spread largely because of parkour videos and communities on the Internet. To see David Belle at work, you can search for his name on YouTube -- his last name is spelled B-E-L-L-E. Parkour is P-A-R-K-O-U-R.

And if you search on the Web, you might even find parkour groups performing their skills near you.

For sixteen years, the Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C., has been showing movies that raise awareness about environmental issues. This year, the twelve-day festival is showing one hundred fifteen movies from thirty countries. Faith Lapidus has our story.

Flo Stone created the Environmental Film Festival in Washington in nineteen ninety-three. She believed it was important for people to be able to see high-quality films about the environment and discuss them together. She felt the subject of the environment, examined with the artistry of filmmakers, could be an influential source of learning.

People can see these films in embassies, movie theaters and museums around the nation's capital.

Some movies star wild animals. This year, in "Edge of Eden: Living With Grizzlies," Canadian filmmakers Jeff and Sue Turner explore the work of bear expert Charlie Russell. For over ten years Mister Russell worked to raise rescued baby bears in a protected area of eastern Russia.

"Edge of Eden" shows him playing with the bears, feeding them and even protecting them from larger wild bears. The movie makes a powerful statement about the need to protect these animals before they disappear from the wild.

In "Animals in Love" French director Laurent Charbonnier looks at the movements, songs and dances that eighty kinds of animals use in order to find a mate.

Some movies explore economic issues. One Kenyan movie examines the lives of people struggling to survive in the Kibera part of Nairobi. About a million people live in poverty in this area.

Another movie, "All in This Tea," looks at the way modern life has changed the traditions of the tea trade in China.

The movie "The Price of Sugar" examines the difficult life of Haitian immigrants working for sugar companies in the Dominican Republic.

And several movies at the festival are old favorites. These include the nineteen thirty-seven film "The River," a history of the Mississippi River by American director Pare Lorentz.

The Environmental Film Festival ends on Saturday, which is also World Water Day. All day around Washington, people can see movies about this most important of natural resources.

The crisis in credit markets claimed Bear Stearns. The eighty-five year old investment bank in New York agreed on Sunday to sell itself to J.P. Morgan Chase. The price: just two dollars a share, as part of a rescue plan organized by the government.

Bear stock had traded at seventy dollars last week, and one hundred seventy last year.

The fall of Bear Stearns developed quickly. Banks were no longer willing to lend money to the company. The problems largely involved short-term loans, called repo borrowings, that are secured by assets like securities.

The problem was that lenders no longer knew the value of the assets that secured Bear's debt. Bear Stearns invested heavily in securities based on risky home loans.

Unable to get new loans, the bank suffered a liquidity crisis. By last Thursday, investors started withdrawing their money. This put more pressure on the bank to sell assets that no one wanted to buy. The next day, Bear informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would fail if nothing was done.

Officials from the Treasury and the Federal Reserve wanted a deal to save Bear Stearns before markets opened this week in Asia. They worried that if Bear failed, it could lead to even more problems.

The central bank agreed to lend J.P. Morgan up to thirty billion dollars to finance the purchase of Bear's less-liquid assets. The loan will be secured with those assets, and the Fed will take responsibility for them.

To increase liquidity in the market, the Fed also agreed to lend money to securities dealers, including investment banks. The central bank has not done this since the Great Depression of the nineteen thirties.

Last week the Fed offered banks up to two hundred billion dollars in loans. And twice this week it cut its discount rate for direct loans to banks. The Fed also lowered the target rate for overnight loans between banks for the sixth time in six months. It cut the federal funds rate by seventy-five basis points, to two and a quarter percent.

Shareholders in Bear Stearns will vote on the takeover by J.P. Morgan. Some are expected to oppose the low-cost deal. Bear employees own about one-third of the stock in their company.

There was some good news this week for financial stocks. Three major investment banks reported earnings that were better than expected for the three months ending February twenty-ninth.

In the United States, federal law requires public schools to provide special education services to children with any disability. Specialists commonly provide these services while the children attend the same schools, and often the same classes, as other students.

But today we look at three private schools that serve only students with learning disabilities.

The Hillside School in Pennsylvania accepts up to one hundred twenty-eight children. The students are ages five to thirteen. They have disorders with language, writing or working with numbers. They may also have attention deficit disorders.

Each class has no more than eight students. Hillside administrators say the main goal is to prepare students to learn effectively in a regular school. Teachers and specialists develop individual learning plans for the students, which is something a public school may also do.

Development director Kathy Greene says most students remain at Hillside for about three years before leaving for a regular classroom setting.

"Serving intelligent students with learning differences" is the slogan of the Shelton School in Texas. Its Web site says the school has about eight hundred fifty students in all twelve grades, and one teacher for every six students.

The Shelton School also says its goal is to prepare students to return to regular classes, although some do finish high school there. The Web site says Shelton graduated forty-four students in two thousand six. And it says they received acceptances from a total of seventy-seven colleges and universities.

Landmark College in Vermont is a college for students with learning difficulties. It offers a two-year program that prepares students to continue their studies at a four-year school.

Each student has an adviser and an individual learning program. Landmark has international students this year from South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

All three schools offer financial aid. Hillside costs about seventeen thousand dollars a year. Shelton costs between ten and twenty-one thousand, depending on the grade level. Shelton and Hillside students live at home. Landmark College costs about fifty thousand dollars a year, which includes housing.

Meningitis is an infection of the tissue that covers the brain and spinal cord. Both bacteria and viruses can cause it. Viral meningitis is the more common form, but bacterial meningitis is more dangerous.

Each year, almost four hundred thousand children under the age of five die from meningitis caused by a bacterium known as Hib. Millions more suffer hearing loss, brain damage or other disabilities as a result of the disease.

Hib, or Haemophilus influenzae type b, requires intensive treatment with antibiotics. But most of the children are poor and live in developing countries.

Hib vaccines for babies have been available since nineteen ninety-one. But for most of that time, their use was limited to industrial countries, mostly because of cost.

Uganda began widespread child vaccinations against Hib in two thousand two. Now, a study has found that in areas where cases were counted, the disease rate fell by eighty-five percent in the first four years. Then it fell to zero in two thousand six.

Scientists from the government, the World Health Organization, a French agency and others have been studying the campaign. They estimate that the program now prevents thirty thousand severe infections and five thousand deaths in children under five each year. Their report is to be published next month in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

The GAVI Alliance paid for the vaccines. GAVI was formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. This alliance of private and public interests was created in two thousand to widen the availability of immunizations.

With GAVI support, Uganda provided sixteen and a half million doses of Hib vaccine nationwide from two thousand two to two thousand six.

Other studies have found similar results with Hib vaccines in countries including Bangladesh, Kenya and Gambia. But the executive secretary of the alliance, Julian Lob-Levyt, says this is the first time the group has seen rates drop to zero.

Uganda chose to use an injection that contains vaccines against five diseases: Hib as well as diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and hepatitis B.

In November, the GAVI board approved additional financing to pay for Hib vaccine in a total of forty-four countries.

Today we explore ways in which local governments around the world are working to protect the environment.

These “green cities” are working to reduce energy use and pollution in new and creative ways. Such efforts by city governments not only help reverse the effects of climate change. They also help governments save large amounts of money on energy costs. And, cities that are leaders in this green movement set a good example to their citizens about the importance of environmental issues.

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement aimed at reducing the release of harmful gases that are believed to cause climate change. The United States is not part of the agreement. But since two thousand five, over eight hundred American mayors across the country have agreed to sign their own version of the protocol. It is called the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Local leaders have agreed to follow the suggestions of the Kyoto Protocol in their communities. These mayors have come together to show how acting locally can help solve world problems and protect the environment. "Going green" generally includes saving energy and water, using natural and renewable materials and re-using materials. Here are some interesting ways in which several American communities are "going green."

Eight years ago, officials in Chicago, Illinois, decided to replace the black tar roof on the city government building with a planted garden. The aim was to reduce energy costs, improve air quality and control the amount of rainwater entering the city’s waste system. Green roofs also help reduce a problem called urban heat islands. During hot weather, the building's tar roof could reach temperatures of up to seventy-six degrees Celsius. With the garden, the temperature of the roof area was reduced by at least thirty degrees Celsius. Workers planted over one hundred fifty kinds of plants that could survive severe weather. Now, the area is cooler, the building requires less energy to keep cool, and the roof looks nice. Chicago also offers money to help people pay for building their own green roof systems.

The city of Boston, Massachusetts has started developing a plan for a program to make compost fertilizer out of dead leaves, plants and food waste. The gases released from the plant waste would provide the electrical power needed to operate the compost center. After being processed in this environmentally safe center, the compost material could be sold locally. This plan would reduce pollution made by the current waste center and could produce enough electricity to power up to one thousand five hundred homes.

New York City is experimenting with using waves in the East River to create energy. And, in Oakland California, you can ride on one of several public hydrogen-powered buses. These buses release zero pollution into the air. However, they cost five times more than common buses.

Cost is also a major issue in creating "green" buildings and systems. These building materials usually cost more money than normal building materials. But, homeowners are increasingly willing to pay more money to have lower energy costs in the future. And, builders are increasingly offering green building methods as they become more and more important to buyers. Investors are also betting on this interest. The National Venture Capital Association says people invested more than two billion dollars in clean technologies last year.

Popular Science magazine recently published a list of the fifty “greenest” cities in the United States. Researchers combined information from United States population records as well as the Green Guide made by the National Geographic Society.

The list rates cities by looking at their renewable energy sources, transportation programs, recycling efforts and “Green Living” grade. The magazine defined Green Living as the number of buildings approved by the United States Green Building Council. This nonprofit organization has a rating system for making environmentally safe buildings. It is called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED. According to this list, the greenest city in the United States is Portland, Oregon. San Francisco, California came in second on the list, while Boston, Massachusetts was third. Fourth and fifth were Oakland, California and Eugene, Oregon.

Popular Science researchers used LEED’s rating system to define how green a building is. But there are other rating systems as well. For example, the National Association of Homebuilders has its own set of rules. And, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy joined to create the Energy Star program. Energy Star gives ratings to devices for the home based on how they use energy. And the program helps homeowners learn how to make changes to their houses in a way that uses energy effectively. Energy Star estimates that in two thousand six it helped Americans avoid the release of harmful gases equal to what twenty-five million cars would produce. And, it says Americans saved fourteen billion dollars on energy costs.

One small town is not yet on any list of the greenest cities. But it may soon be as green as its name. In May of last year, a tornado windstorm destroyed most of the town of Greensburg, Kansas. The city decided to rebuild in a better way, using green methods.

Greensburg officials have agreed that all public building projects will follow LEED top-level requirements. The actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the Discovery Channel television station are working together to make a show about Greensburg. The program will show how the people in Greensburg are working to rebuild their town into a green community.

Cities around the world are also taking action to protect the environment. For example, the mayor of London, England has made environmental planning an important part of his work. The city has created a Climate Change Action Plan to help cut pollution levels. London has also started a Green Grid program in the eastern part of the city. Its aim is to create and protect planted areas in which people can enjoy the outdoors.

In the Netherlands, a Dutch company has built a system that uses cold lake water to cool people’s homes in one area of Amsterdam. This use of a renewable natural resource helps reduce pollution and energy costs.

About five years ago, officials in Thane, India decided to reduce its dependency on power from coal. This city, near Mumbai, often experiences lack of power because of the large numbers of people using electricity. Officials decided to save energy by putting water heaters powered by the sun on top of the city's main hospital. The hospital saved thousands of dollars in energy costs each year. Officials then began building solar powered water heaters around the city. Thane later started requiring solar water heaters for all new buildings. And, the city offers a reduced property tax rate for people who place these water heaters in their homes.

China has announced plans to create an eco-city called Dongtan. The company designing the city says it will produce its energy from the wind, sun and reused waste. The aim is for the city to be an example to the rest of China. China is also working to make the Olympic games this year in Beijing as green as possible. For example, the Olympic Village where athletes and officials live during the games uses solar power technologies and other renewable energy sources.

The United Arab Emirates and the environmental group World Wide Fund for Nature have taken green building a step further with the Masdar City project. Its aim is to be the greenest city in the world. The city will meet environmental rules set by the WWF One Living Planet and the company BioRegional. The city is expected to produce no waste, no carbon pollution and contain no cars. The city will create renewable energy from the wind, sun and other technologies. And, buildings will be made using only recycled materials. Masdar City is expected to be finished by two thousand sixteen.

The United Arab Emirates has given the company Masdar Initiative fifteen billion dollars to develop future energy sources. The country aims to become a world leader in renewable energy technologies. Experts say developments like this may lead to a greener future for all cities in the world.

When is a plant a weed? When its undesirable qualities outweigh its good points, say experts at Penn State University.

Weeds can take control of productive land. Crops generally produce several hundred seeds per plant. But each weed plant can produce tens or even hundreds of thousands of seeds. And some buried seeds can survive up to forty years, or even longer.

Eradicating weeds means you have to remove all the seeds and roots so the plants will not grow back. But birds or the wind can reintroduce them to the land.

A more common way to deal with weeds is to control them enough so that the land can be used for planting. Experts advise using two or more control methods.

Chemical weed killers or natural treatments like corn gluten can suppress weed growth. Dense planting of a crop can also act as a natural control. Bill Curran is a professor of weed science at Penn State, in University Park, Pennsylvania. He says dense planting is one of the most common methods for suppressing weeds.

He says a dense, competitive crop that quickly shades the soil will help suppress many weeds. The seeds need light to grow, so blocking the sun will reduce weed growth.

Other controls include turning over the soil, pulling the weeds by hand or covering them with mulch made from wood, garden waste or other material. Mulch is widely used, but even mulch has its limits. Natural resource specialists in the Queensland government in Australia note that weeds can be transported in mulch. This is also true of soil, grain, hay and animals.

Yet animals like sheep or goats can provide a biological control by eating weeds. Insects and other organisms can also act as biological controls.

Preventing the spread of weeds is an important part of weed management. Farm vehicles should be kept out of areas with weeds. If that is not possible, then clean off the equipment and your shoes when leaving.

People in Queensland are advised to take weeds and garden waste to a waste center or burn them, bury them deeply or make them into mulch.

Professor Curran says composting weeds is another way to make use of them. The process of making organically rich compost produces heat. This will kill many, though not all, weed seeds. The same is true of seeds that pass through farm animals that graze on weeds.

Broken rubber bands and flat tires requiring replacement could soon be a thing of the past.

French researchers have developed a new kind of rubber that can repair itself when broken. The new rubber is made from widely available materials including vegetable oil and a common industrial chemical. All the materials are considered safe to the environment and can be easily reused.

The best part is the new rubber can be repaired and used again and again without losing its strength or ability to stretch. When cut, the rubber can be made new again, simply by pressing the two broken ends back together.

The product can be repaired at room temperature, around twenty degrees Celsius. Other self-healing materials require higher temperatures for repair.

Traditionally, rubber substances are made from huge molecules connected by strong chemical links, or bonds. The new rubber is made of smaller molecules. The molecules are linked together using hydrogen bonds. When connected in this way, the molecules act like one long molecule, forming what is called supramolecular networks. When the rubber is cut or breaks, the molecules attempt to connect with whatever molecule is near them. When pressed together, the molecules are able to repair themselves at the molecular level, making the repaired rubber like new.

However, time is an important element in the process. If the broken ends are not brought together quickly, a repair is not possible. This is because molecules will form bonds with molecules on their own side. The inventors say the surfaces of the rubber can be repaired within a week of being separated.

The rubber is the creation of scientists at the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Education Institution in Paris. The organization is part of France's National Center for Scientific Research. The new material is described in greater detail in the research publication Nature.

The possibilities for the new rubber seem endless. It could lead to clothing that fixes its own tears and children's toys that can be repaired. It also could lead to inflatable products that do not leak, at least not for long. A chemical company, Arkema, is already working on using the new rubber in its products. Products made with the rubber could be available within one or two years.

Volunteers across the United States have begun searching for clues about rising temperatures on Earth. A nationwide study is seeking volunteers to look for changes in flowers and flowering plants. They are being asked to keep records of their observations in a database on the Internet. Study organizers say the information will give scientists a better understanding of climate change.

The study, called Project Budburst, is to continue all year. This will permit the observation of all plants in different parts of the country. Plant lovers, students and other people in every state are welcome to take part.

The goal of the study is to help people of all ages understand the changing link between climate, seasons and plants. It also gives them a way to share their findings with others through the Internet.

The University Corporation of Atmospheric Research is supervising Project Budburst. The group says thousands of people in twenty-six states recorded their observations during the project’s first launch last year. Scientists received information about hundreds of different kinds of plants. Volunteers provided details about the appearance of their plant’s first bursts of growth for the season.

This is how Project BudBurst works. Each volunteer agrees to watch one or more plants, usually a flower, plant or tree. Volunteers can get help from the project’s Web site. It suggests more than sixty trees and flowers with information about each of them. Volunteers can also add their own choices.

Next, they begin examining their plants at least one week before the usual time when the new flower, or bud, bursts and leaves begin to form. This is known as budburst. Volunteers continue to observe their plant or flower for events following budburst. They look for the first leaf, first flower and later, the spreading of seeds. When volunteers record their findings on the Web site, they can see maps of other results across the United States.

Sandra Henderson is project coordinator for Project BudBurst. She says climate change may be affecting our communities in ways that we do not notice.

Many different kinds of plants and animals are affected by climate change. Rising temperatures cause some plants to extend their growing periods. Many insects reproduce and develop because of increasing sunlight instead of temperature. This can cause a difference between the behavior of insects like bees and flowers that open much earlier than the insects expect. This problem has already been reported across many parts of the world.

The World Health Organization is urging countries to follow six policies to prevent millions of deaths linked to tobacco use. The six policies are known as MPOWER, spelled M-P-O-W-E-R.

The letter M means monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies. The P is for protecting people by establishing smoke-free areas. O is for offering services to help people stop smoking. The letter W means warning people about the dangers of tobacco. E is for enforcing bans on tobacco advertising and other forms of marketing. And R is for raising taxes on tobacco.

A World Health Organization report says raising taxes is the single most effective way to reduce tobacco use. A study found that governments now collect an average of five hundred times more money in tobacco taxes each year than they spend on control efforts.

The report says tobacco now causes more than five million deaths a year. It predicts this number will rise to more than eight million by the year two thousand thirty. By the end of the century, it says, tobacco could kill one billion people -- ten times as many as in the twentieth century.

The large majority of these deaths will take place in developing countries. More than twenty-five percent of all smokers in the world are Chinese. India, Indonesia, Russia and the United States, in that order, follow China in tobacco use.

The W.H.O. found that only five percent of all people live in countries with protections like national legislation on smoke-free areas or bans on tobacco marketing. Forty percent of countries still permit smoking in hospitals and schools.

An international treaty on tobacco control came into force in two thousand five.

Tobacco companies face increasingly restrictive marketplaces in many wealthier countries. The industry is now aiming at the developing world, especially young women. The report says large numbers of people do not yet know the dangers of smoking.

W.H.O. Director General Margaret Chan notes that tobacco hurts economies in two ways. One is through reduced productivity among workers who get lung cancer or other diseases linked to tobacco use. The other way is through high health care costs for treating those diseases.

The W.H.O. report was released in New York City. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has worked hard to restrict smoking in America's largest city. His aid group, Bloomberg Philanthropies, helped pay for the study.

In seventeen eighty-seven, a group of delegates gathered for a convention in Philadelphia. Their plan was to rewrite the Articles of Confederation. Those articles created a weak union of the thirteen states.

Instead of rewriting the articles, however, they spent that summer writing a completely new plan of government. On September seventeenth, after four months of often bitter debate, the delegates finally signed the new document. Now, they had to get at least nine of the thirteen states to approve it.

Delegates to the Philadelphia convention had met in secret. They wanted to be able to debate proposals, and change their minds, without worrying about public reaction. Now, they were free to speak openly. Each had a copy of the new Constitution.

Newspapers also got copies. They printed every word. Public reaction was great indeed. Arguments 'for' and 'against' were the same as those voiced by delegates to the convention:

The Constitution would save the United States! The Constitution would create a dictator!

The leaders who supported the new Constitution understood quickly that to win ratification, they must speak out. So, just a few weeks after the document was signed, they began writing statements supporting the proposed Constitution.

Their statements appeared first in newspapers in New York. They were called the Federalist Papers. They were printed under the name of 'Publius'. But they were really written by three men: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

Years later, historians said the Federalist Papers were the greatest explanation of the Constitution ever written. But in seventeen eighty-seven, they had little effect on public opinion.

The debate over the Constitution divided Americans into two groups. Those who supported it were known as Federalists. Those who opposed it were known as anti-Federalists.

The anti-Federalists were not anti-American. They were important leaders who loved their country. They were governors, heroes of the Revolutionary War, and even a future president. Yet they distrusted the idea of a strong central government.

Give too much power to the president, the Congress and the courts, they said, and citizens would no longer be free. They would lose the liberties gained in the war for independence from Britain.

One anti-Federalist was Patrick Henry of Virginia. James Madison called him the most dangerous enemy of the Constitution.

Patrick Henry and other anti-Federalists tried to create distrust and fear about the new plan of government. Farmers against city people. North against South. Small states against big states.

An anti-Federalist newspaper in Philadelphia carried this commentary: "Citizens! You are lucky to live in Pennsylvania, where we have the best government in the world. Do not let this government be destroyed by the new Constitution. Do not let a few men -- men with great names -- seize control of your lives."

One Federalist noted that it was easier to frighten the people than to teach them.

There were both Federalists and anti-Federalists in the Continental Congress. The Congress had few powers. But it was the only central government the thirteen states had at that time. It met in New York City.

The convention in Philadelphia had sent the Continental Congress a copy of the new Constitution. Within eight days, the Congress agreed that each state should organize a convention to discuss ratification. One by one, the states held their conventions.

Delaware was the first state to ratify, early in December, seventeen eighty-seven. All the delegates voted to approve it. Pennsylvania was the next to ratify, also in December.

New Jersey ratified the Constitution in December, followed by Georgia and Connecticut in January. That made five states. The Federalists needed just four more to win ratification.

Massachusetts voted in early February. Delegates to the state convention wanted the Constitution amended to include guarantees to protect citizens' rights. They agreed to ratify if these guarantees were added later.

Maryland ratified the Constitution at the end of April. There, a number of delegates included a letter of protest with their vote. They said if the proposed plan of government were not amended, the liberty and happiness of the people would be threatened.

South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify, at the end of May. Just one more state and the new Constitution would become the law of the land. All eyes turned to Virginia.

Virginia was the biggest of the thirteen states. At that time, its western border stretched all the way to the Mississippi River. One-fifth of all the people in America lived in Virginia. The men who attended the ratifying convention were among the most famous names in the nation: James Madison, Patrick Henry, George Mason, James Monroe, Edmund Randolph and John Marshall.

Thomas Jefferson was still in Paris, serving as America's representative to France. But others kept him informed of everything that happened at home. Jefferson wrote back that he liked most of the Constitution. But, he said, I do not like the fact that it does not contain a declaration of the rights of citizens.

The most famous Virginian, George Washington, stayed at his farm, Mount Vernon. All during the month of June, however, riders brought him messages from the convention and carried messages back.

For three weeks, the Virginia delegates argued about the Constitution. By the end of June, they were ready to vote. Patrick Henry, the outspoken anti-Federalist, asked to make a last statement.

"If this convention approves the Constitution," Henry said, "I will feel that I fought for good reasons…and lost the fight. If this happens, I will wait and hope. I will hope that the spirit of the American Revolution is not lost. I will hope that this new plan of government is changed to protect the safety, the liberty, and the happiness of the American people."

Then the convention voted. Virginia approved the Constitution. However, like Massachusetts, it added that the document must include a declaration of rights for the nation's people.

Federalists in Virginia were proud. They thought their state was the ninth to ratify, the one that made the Constitution the law of the land. But they soon learned that New Hampshire had ratified a few days earlier. Virginia was number ten. That left three states: North Carolina, Rhode Island, and New York.

In a way, New York was the most important of all. If New York refused to join the union under the Constitution, it would be