CD 4-1
Narrator: Listen to a conversation in a library. Student: Excuse me. Can you help me? I don't seem to be able to find the reserved material for the class. Librarian: Certainly. What are you looking for? Student: The reading assignment sheet says here that we have to read several items on the list by Monday. I found Environmental Connections. But I can't locate Man, Materials and Environment, Environmental Science or Environmental Administrative Decisions. They aren't at the locations they're supposed to be... Well, I've been hunting for them for over an hour, going through in-process stacks and all. I'm at my wit's end and a little put off, too! Librarian: All right. You don't need to get yourself all worked up. We'll see what we can do. Okay, one at a time. What did you say? Man, Material... Student: Man, Mateterials and Environment. Librarian: Okay, I got it. Who is the author? Student: It says here "National Research Council Study Committee on Environmental Aspects of a National Materials Policy." Quite a mouthful, isn't it?! Librarian: Whoa, let me see that. ...Yeah, it's a federal agency. Well, the library catalog online shows that it's part of three volume series. Do you want all three? Or do you know which one you want? Student: Uh, let me see. Well, at the end of the title is says "A Report to the National Commission on Materials Policy." Does that help? Librarian: Yes, it's the first one you need. Two copies of this should be in the reserve shelf on the second floor. Student: I looked. They're not there. Librarian: Okay, in that case, the other copies are in the library repository. To read them you need to fill out a form. You can use our Material Request Form at the bottom of Title Display on the library site. Just type in your name and ID number. Student: Will do. Okay. How about the second one -- Environmental Science? Librarian: That's a bit too general a title. Is there a subtitle? Student: Uh-uh. Librarian: How about the author? Student: Um, Larry J Williams, et al. Librarian: Okay...Here it is. This is also a series put aside for reserve. There seems to be at least ten of them... Student: Oh, yes as a matter of fact, I need to leaf through three of them in the series -- Environment and Economics, Environmental Health, and Environmental Cooperation -- Volume 3, 6, and 7. Librarian: Well, we have Environmental Health and Environmental Cooperation but not Environmental and Economics. Student: Aw, heck, why, uh... What I want to know is... How in the world is it possible to that the assigned reading material is not in the library? Librarian: It could mean that someone is reading it right now or that it's in process. Um, what that means is, the material is being replaced. A worst-case senario would be that it's been placed in the wrong section. But we will cross the bridge when we come to it. So, okay, if someone is reading it now, you can rush your request. Also, anytime you need something that's in process you can rush your request, too. Just use our Rush Cataloging Form here. It will tell the staff, when they get hold of it, not to put the book back to the shelf and to call you right away. You want to do that? Student: Um, well, I suppose I should go ahead with it. But, is there any other way to get hold of the book? I'd just as soon find the book, you know. Librarian: Yeah. Well, you could always use interlibrary services. That's sort of the last resort. Uh, so before that, let's check to see if the Science or Law Library has what you need. They have seprate catalogs and sometimes own things the Main library doesn't. Student: What are you saying? We can search books from here? Librarian: Uh huh. Student: Wow! I take it we can check out books from the other libraries on campus from here, too? Librarian: Yes. You can also request to have books sent over here, or to have them held for you. Then, you still have to go there to pick them up, of course. But since sometimes it takes more than a day to send for books, play it safe and request to hold and go get them yourself. Uh... where was I? Student: Uh, the Scienece and Law Libraries may have the books? Librarian: Ah... Here you go. Oh, you lucked out. The Law library has one copy of Environmental Science, Volume 1 of Environmental Science. Okay so, you can use the terminal there to check it out and request to hold it until you get there. All right? Student: Yeah, good. Librarian: Okay, what's next? Student: Environmental Adminitrative Decisions. This one seems like a government document. Its subtitle goes Decisions of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Does the Law library have it? Librarian: ...Hmm, uh-uh, no such luck. I don't see it either in our catalog or thoes of the other two libraries. Who's the auther again? Student: Doesn't say. United States Environmental Protection Agency, maybe? Librarian: Well, now, um, since we can't find any copy anywhere on campus, it's good time to try the catalog of the Center for Research Libraries. Since our university is a member of this cooperative institution, any material listed in their catalog can be ordered through interlibrary services with a longer than usual loan period. And they usually send out the stuff right away, you know, a day or so. This is a good place to start, especially when you need articles on microfilm, government documents, foreign language materials or other old or unusual items. Also, compared to other regular interlibrary loans, it's usually the quickest way to get what you want, provided that they have it. Since this one you need sounds like a government document, it may be well worth your while to place an interlibrary loan request. I'm saying this because you'll have to jump through some hoops to get started. First time around you will need to register, and you have to have a complete citation, and you have to fill out a separate form for each request. So it could be cumbersome and time-consuming. But you can download a request form from our website. If you don't have the full citation for the book, you can ask for assistance at the Reference Desk on the first floor. This may not be unusual but the publication year is 1982, which is not very old old enough. Uh, so all in all it's not a bad idea to try -- worth a try. Student: It still may take longer than I like. I have to finish reading it by Monday. Librarian: I know, I know. Still, take a shot at it, anyway. Better late than never, don't you think? Student: Very well... I'll do that. I don't want all of your advise go to waste, anyway. Librarian: Okay, here's the address of their site. You can log on with your ID number. Make sure that you enter your complete ID card barcode number and click on the start button and just follow the instructions on the screen. Okay? I'll let you to take it from here. In the meantime, I'll get you a Rush Cataloging Form. Student: Thanks. If unsccessful, then I can find out exactly what you mean by the worst-case senario, right? Librarian: Don't even go there! Good luck! Student: Thank you very much.
CD 4-16
Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and a university office worker. Office worker: McCallum Center. Student: Um, hi, I'd like to reserve a racquetball court. Office worker: May I have your membership number, please? Student: Is that the same as my student ID card number? Office worker: Well, yes and no. You haven't registered here yet, have you? Have you been here? Student: Uh, no. I haven't set foot in the Center yet. I didn't know that I needed to register either. Office worker: Yes, you do. It's very simple, though. You just need to fill out a registration form and you can get a number to affix to your ID number. Student: Well, can I do that on the phone? Office worker: Sure, or you can do it online, either way. You want to go ahead and register now? Student: Yeah, might as well. Oh, by the way, how much does it cost? Office worker: Are you a full time student? Student: Yes. Office worker: Then, you're covered. You've paid the membership fee as part of your tuition. Student: Well, why didn't I know that? Office worker: I guess you didn't read the fine print, huh? Well, all full time students are required to pay a fee that gives access to the facility as part of their tuition. It's $50 per semester. Student: Oh, okay. But I'm still required to register? Office worker: Yes. As I said, when you register, we'll give you an additional three-digit number to put at the end of your student ID number. That number will be your membership number here. It will be permanent, as long as you're enrolled in the university. After entering the building and punching your number in the keypad by the door, you can access all rooms in the center, except the employee-only spaces: the indoor track, climbing walls, strength and conditioning rooms, swimming pools, as well as all kinds of courts including racquetball courts. Okay? Then, give me your ID number, please. Student: 5559023. Office worker: All right... So, you are John Tobin. Hi, John. My name is Shirley. I'll go ahead and fill out your form for you. When you come in, please come by our office and sign the form, though. We're at Room 100, the administration office, in McCallum Student Center. Student: Thank you, Shirley. Okay, so, I can make the reservation? Office worker: Yes. Usually you have to call the Equipment Check-out Desk for racquetball courts. But I'll put in in for you just this time. For future reference, reservations can be made by phone at 590-4910 or in person at the Equipment Check-out Desk. Also you can reserve a court or any other facility up to 2 days in advance. Student: I'd like to have a court from 10:00 to noon Friday, please. Office worker: Well, you can keep a court for one hour per reservation. One reservation per person per day for one hour in length -- that's the rule. But your partner can hold another hour. Is he a fulltime student? Student: Uh, I'm pretty sure he is. Office worker: If he's a full-timer and has already registered -- you can't do it for him, sorry, he has to do it himself -- um, anyway, then, he can reserve a court. But if he's a part-timer and he hasn't paid the membership fee yet -- um, what I mean is, if he hasn't registered here yet... In that case, he can, um... Well, let me see here. Okay, right here, it says: Part time students and student spouses have to purchase memberships at a cost of $55 per semester. The extra five dollar is a processing fee. By the way, if you want to have a locker, locker rentals are also available each term at the rate of $36 per semester for full lockers, and $27 for half lockers. If you want to use towels, the service costs you $10 extra. There's a hamper by the door when you come in the locker room. Help yourself. Student: Well, sounds very reasonable. But first, could you please check if he is? His name is James Woodridge. Office worker: You mean if he is registered? Student: If he's a fulltime student or not. Oh, yeah, I got what you mean. Yes, please check if he is registered. And if he is I can get a court for two hours, right? Office worker: Right. Well, here he is. He's a member all right. Student: Oh, good. Office worker: So, I've got you two down for Friday from 10:00 for two hours. Please come in early because the holding time is only 10 minutes. Which means, you have until 10 minutes after the hour, which is 10:10, to clock-in and claim your court reservation. After 10 minutes, the court will be assigned to someone else on a first come and first serve basis. You got that? Student: Sure. Okay. Office worker: All right. You're all set. Your 3-digit number will be 465. Student: Incidentally, what are the hours? Is the center open on weekends? Office worker: Certainly. It's open on weekends from Saturday 10 am through Sunday at 11 pm. Weekdays, from 7:00 am to midnight. Student: Oh, good. Office worker: Don't forget to come in and we also need to check your ID card when you sign the form. Okay? Student: I'll do that. Your office keeps the same hours as the center, doesn't it? Office worker: Uh, actually, ours are from 9 to 4. Student: I'll see you on Friday morning, then.
CD 4-29
Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in an economics class. Professor: We've been talking about the Reagan and Bush administrations' tax policies. Now, to make clear what those administrations, especially the Reagan administration, brought about in terms of economic discrepancies among the people, let's take the federal income tax returns from 1989. Well, in the year 1989, a time of middle-class decline, the top 4 percent of all wage earners in the country collected as much in wages and salaries as the bottom 51 percent of the population, believe it or not. In more precise numbers, 3.8 million individuals and families at the top earned as much from their jobs as did 49.2 million individuals and families at the bottom. To really bring it home to you, I can show you the figures for 1970 and 1959. Here goes: In 1970, the top 4 percent earned as much on the job as the bottom 38 percent, and in 1959, a time of growing middle-class prosperity, the good old days, they earned as much as the bottom 35 percent. Let's take a closer look at our middle class. Median family income in 1989 was $34,213, which means half of all Americans earned more and half earned less. So, the heart of the middle class may be defined as those wage earners who reported incomes between $20,000 and $50,000 on their tax returns in that year. And they accounted for 35 percent of all tax returns. Slightly fewer than ten million tax returns were filed by the $15,000-to-$20,000 income group that year. That represent 10 percent of all returns. At the other end of the extended middle class are people earning $50,000 to $70,000, uh, $75,000, rather. That income group filed a total of 9.2 million returns, accounting for 10 percent of all returns. Overall, 53.2 million individuals and families in the extended middle class -- with income between $15,000 and $75,000 -- filed tax returns. They accounted for 55 percent of all returns. That put 37.3 million individuals and families at the bottom, with incomes below $15,000. They represented 39 percent of total returns. While this figure includes returns filed by teenagers working part-time, the overwhelming majority are married couples, single persons and single parents who represent the working poor. Now look at the other side of coin: How does the tax system figure in this matter? Okay, during the 1950s, median-income families each paid 1.7 percent of their income in Social Security taxes. In the 1980s, they paid 7 percent of their income. Those with incomes of ten times the median income paid tax of 0.2 percent of their income in the 1950s; in the 1980s, they still paid tax of less than 1 percent of their income. Next to nothing! Another set of numbers: In 1970, individuals and families with incomes between $500,000 and $1 million paid, on average, $304,408 in combined federal income and Social Security taxes. By 1989, they paid $168,714 -- or $135,694 less than nineteen years earlier. That amounted to a tax cut of 45%! 45%, folks! By way of comparison, during the same period, the taxes for people in the $25,000-to-$30,000 income group fell a meager 9 percent. When Congress enacted the Tax Reform Act of 1986, lawmakers hailed its alternative minimum tax provision as the most stringent ever, guaranteeing that nobody would escape paying at least some tax. Under the existing law that year, 198,688 individuals and families with incomes over $100,000 paid alternative minimum taxes totaling $4.6 billion. Three years later, in 1989, under the new law praised by those lawmakers, 49,844 individuals and families with incomes over $100,000 paid alternative minimum taxes totaling $476 million. Do you see what's happening here? Passage of "the toughest minimum tax ever" resulted in a 75 percent drop in the number of millionaires who paid the tax, and a 90 percent drop in the amount they paid. On average, a millionaire in 1989 paid an alternative minimum tax of $116,395. Three years later, the average millionaire paid $54,758. That amounted to a 53 percent tax cut. Reaganomics was at work! Incredible, isn't it? I wouldn't call Congress indifferent, as some liberal economists, like Ezra Williams and James Bernstein, do. Nothing indifferent about it. Senators and Representatives were active accomplices, or worse, instigators of this whole process of shifting tax burdens to the middle and lower income groups from the wealthy. Here's yet another set of numbers: Between 1980 and 1989, the average wage earned by those in the under-$20,000 income category rose $123 -- from $8,528 to $8,651. That was an increase of 1.4 percent. Over the same decade, the average salaries of people with total incomes of more than $1 million rose by $255,088 -- from $515,499 to $770,587 -- an increase of 49.5 percent. What's this? This is a total abomination. Also don't forget that what I'm talking about is their increase in wages and salaries alone. As you may recall from the last lecture, the interest on bonds issued by local and state governments is exempt from federal income taxes. As a result, some 800,000 persons with income over $100,000 picked up $20.1 billion from their exempt-bond holdings and escaped payment of $5.6 billion in federal income taxes. Naturally, that lost revenue was made up by other taxpayers -- among them the 26.5 million persons with income of under $20,000 a year who obligingly paid taxes on the interest earned from their miserly savings account. All together, these persons paid about $7.1 billion in federal income taxes on savings account interest that averaged a whopping $1,782 for the year! Not to mention that many of the same millionaires escaped payment of billions of dollars in state income taxes as a result of their investment in United States government securities, which are also exempt from state and local taxes.
CD 4-47
Narrator: Listen to students discussing topics in marine biology. Female student: You'd better hurry up and learn to scuba-dive, John. Male student 1: What do you mean? Female student: According to Professor Smith of my marine biology course, a lot of corals and marine animals will be gone in the near future. Male student 1: Oh, you're talking about the bleaching, right? Male student 2: I heard that, too. Female student: Not just that. Professor Smith is the coordinator of the U.S. Virgin Islands Coral Monitoring program. He's the main guy keeping track of corals and other things for ecological research there. He actually dives all over the Caribbean. He just came back from a trip to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and told us that about one-third of the coral in official monitoring sites has recently died. That's a conservative estimate, at that! He says it's an unprecedented rate. He hasn't seen anything close to this rate of loss in the Caribbean before. The biggest loss of reefs that scientists have ever seen! Male student 2: Wow, sounds bad! But how did that happen? Pollution? Female student: Uh-uh. Evidently, a one-two punch of bleaching from record warm water temperatures followed by disease has killed all those corals in Caribbean waters.Among them were ancient and delicate corals that were there when Columbus came, you know. He found a colony of 800-year old star coral -- awesome creature! more than 13 feet high -- that had just died in the waters off Puerto Rico. He saw an old chuck of brain coral -- the one that looks like the human brain, you know -- about 3 feet in diameter, that was at least 90 percent dead from this disease called "white plague." Sounds awful, doesn't it? Male student 1: Good God! More beautiful things bite the dust because of global warming! You're right, I needed to take up diving yesterday! But, can't we expect them to come back some way or another? Can we do anything about it? Female student: Well, we're talking about the extremely slow-growing reef-building corals. Some of the devastated coral can never be replaced because it only grows half an inch a year, if that! Male student 2: The repercussions from that must be devastating. I mean, if corals go, fish will go. You know, corals are the foundation of the reef and major fish species use coral as habitat and feeding grounds. No more sushi!? Female student: What's more, coral reefs are the basis for a multibillion-dollar tourism and commercial fishing economy in the Caribbean. Also, I didn't know this, but evidently reefs limit the damage from natural disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis. On top of that, recently they are being touted as possible sources for new medicines, too. Male student 1: Medicine? Really? Female student: Yeah, really. But before we can develop drugs for, say, maybe, cancer or some currently untreatable disease, they will be gone for good. Male student 2: Is it just the Caribbean? Or all over the world? Are we all doomed? I'm getting spooked... Female student: According to Professor Smith, the Caribbean is actually better off than some areas of the Indian and Pacific oceans. In those areas mortality rates -- mostly from warming waters -- um, the rates there have been in the 90 percent range in past years. 90 percent! Can you believe that? He called what's happening worldwide "an underwater holocaust." Male student 2: All right, now I'm totally spooked. Isn't there anything scientists can do? Female student: Like what? Male student 2: Uh, like treat the disease or remedy the situation, anything? Male student 1: Well, what do you think, Garry? The problem isn't what they can do, but what we do. People're still debating whether global warming is real or not. Unreal! Female student: Really. "The progress is not good," he said. With global warming, scientists are very pessimistic about the future of coral reefs. Then he blurted out, "if you want to see a reef, go now, because they just won't survive in their current state." He was dead serious. Male student 2: Sad and frustrating and frightening! Well, did all this happen pretty quickly? Or has something been festering for a while? Female student: Until last year, only a few coral species would bleach during hot water spells and the problem would occur only at certain depths. But in summer of 2005, bleaching struck in a far greater area of the region, at all depths and among most species. For the Caribbean, it all started with very warm sea temperatures, first in Panama last spring, and it got worse from there. Sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean last summer were by far the highest in 21 years of satellite monitoring and this wrecked ore havoc on marine ecology last year than in all the previous 20 years combined. Male student 1: It's so mind-boggling! Something so extensive and so devastating is happening right in front of us and right this minute but so silently that nobody sees it, except divers and scientists, of course... Female student: Professor Smith compared it to a scenario where every city in the United States records high temperatures at the same and it remains hot for weeks, even months. That'd be just about the equivalent of what happened in the Caribbean. Male student 1: But how exactly does heat kill corals? I know they bleach, or turn white, but how, actually, does this happen? Do you know? Female student: Actually, corals don't change color. The algae on them does. The heat causes the symbiotic algae that provide food for the coral to die and turn white. "Symbiotic," because the coral, in turn, gives the algae a place to live, I guess. Anyway, that puts the coral in critical condition. If the coral remains without algae for more than a week, the chance of death soars, he says. Male student 2: Not all of them are gone yet, though, right? Please! Female student: More than 90 percent of lettuce coral and star coral, and nearly 60 percent of brain coral have already bleached in St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. And you know what Professor Smith said? He said much of the coral actually started to recover from the bleaching last fall, but then, bam! The disease struck the weakened colonies and finished them off. Male student 1: Sounds like the doomsday scenario for the death of the ocean. Female student: Really. The question is whether the coral can adapt sufficiently quickly to cope with climate change. He thinks the evidence we have at the moment tells us, "No, they can't." So, the fish will go. The smaller predators will go. The invertebrates will go. The same ecosystem won't be sustained. Male student 2: My goodness! I feel like curling up in the corner of my room and crying!