NBC & PBS (2007-9) (STORY4)

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LISTENING REVIEW SEPTEMBER, 2007

                                                                                              INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

PBS NEWSHOUR STORY4:  

FAA Official Discusses Flight Delays Across United States 

Chief Justice's Seizure Raises Questions About Causes 

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who was released from the hospital on Tuesday, is among 25 million Americans who have suffered from seizures. A neurologist describes the triggers and treatments of such conditions.

GWEN IFILL: The chief justice is one of 25 million Americans who have had, or will have, a seizure at some point in their lives. Three million of those have epilepsy, which means they have suffered more than one seizure. Here to tell us more is Dr. Susan Spencer, professor of neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine. Welcome, Dr. Spencer.

DR. SUSAN SPENCER, Professor of Neurology: Thank you.

GWEN IFILL: The term we have heard today is benign idiopathic seizure. Define that for us in English.

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: Well, a seizure is an episode of brain cells discharging excessively and an abnormal number of them discharging in unison. And there are many kinds of seizures, and they have a multitude of causes, so virtually anything that affects the brain can cause seizures with the right situation.

Sometimes, however, we are unable to identify a discrete cause, like a tumor or a stroke or an injury or the way the brain developed or other causes, and then we call it idiopathic, meaning we don't have a defined cause. Some of the syndromes that cause seizures recurrently, which are defined as epilepsy, are not clearly defined as cause and also not associated with any other disturbances of the brain or an individual's function. Some of the things...

Defining epilepsy

GWEN IFILL: I'm sorry. Pardon me, Dr. Spencer. One of the things that caught my eye, though, in the term benign idiopathic seizure is that benign sounds like it's not life-threatening. Is that a correct interpretation?

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: Well, I think that any seizure can be life-threatening, depending on how big it is and what situation it occurs in, but generally speaking the seizure will run its course. And I think the benign term refers more to the syndrome, meaning that there is no associated damage to the brain or change occurring in the brain or other neurologic or systemic illness or progressive problem, but the seizure is benign in itself and occurs, perhaps occasionally, without other manifestations of any disorder.

GWEN IFILL: Another definition for us, when we hear the word epilepsy, we think of a chronic disease. There are two episodes here that we know about, and that Justice Roberts first suffered a seizure 14 years ago and then again yesterday. Why is that epilepsy?

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: We define epilepsy as recurrent seizures, and so, technically speaking, after you have more than one seizure, you have epilepsy. That's just purely a definition.

GWEN IFILL: Is it unusual to have them so far apart, 14 years?

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: It is quite unusual and does occur in certain syndromes that may be inherited but are idiopathic, and we don't have a clear, defined genetic factor. And that can occur, although most causes of seizures tend to cause them a little more frequently without treatment.

Understanding triggers

GWEN IFILL: You mentioned the causes. I know that you were not involved in Justice Roberts' treatments, but is there a way of knowing if there is a trigger for these kinds of seizures?

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: There are, as I said, many causes of seizures. And then the question, of course, is why in any cause of seizure does the seizure occur at a certain moment in time?

Sometimes circumstances lower what we call the seizure threshold, and that can occur, for example, with lack of sleep. It can occur with fever. It can occur with certain medications or exposures. It can occur with changes in body chemistry and salt balance. So there are certain factors that may provoke the seizure occurring at a certain time in an individual who has seizures.

GWEN IFILL: Is it unusual for it to occur in mid life? He's fairly young by some standards, in his early 50s, but also people think of epilepsy either as a childhood disease or an elderly disease.

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: Well, epilepsy is, in fact, a childhood disease. More than 80 percent of seizures begin in childhood, but it can begin at any age. And even causes that are related to the way the brain has formed cannot manifest the seizures that might be associated with that until the second, third, fourth or even fifth decade.

Treating Justice Roberts

GWEN IFILL: When the seizures are so far apart as they were in this case, is there any obvious treatment?

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: The recommended treatment for epilepsy, which is more than one seizure, is generally to take medication to prevent recurrent seizures. Because this interval is unusual, it is a decision to be made in terms of taking medication on a daily basis to prevent a seizure, seeing how long of an interval went without any symptoms whatsoever. Nevertheless...

GWEN IFILL: That's all right. What were you saying?

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: Nevertheless, usually we recommend treatment if someone has had more than one seizure.

GWEN IFILL: And if you've had two, how much more likely is it that there will be another one? Like when you've had a stroke, it is apparently considered likely that you will then have another stroke. Is that true as well for seizures?

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: It certainly is, and the risk of having a recurrent seizure after one seizure is somewhat low, like in the range of 20 percent or so. But it goes up to well over 50 percent if an individual has a second seizure, and that's really the origin of the recommendation that treatment be initiated at that point.

GWEN IFILL: Dr. Susan Spencer of Yale University School of Medicine, thank you very much.

DR. SUSAN SPENCER: Thank you.

NBC STORY 4. Family Ties

Family takes on a whole new meaning0

Tonight we begin to close out the broadcast with what some people already know. Sometimes families happen by design, but often they just happen, because people need to come together. Tonight we have the story of a young man who raised his hand and volunteered to take on an instant family, because a member of his own family could not. Here is NBC’s Peter Alexander.

At the Demaco household in Anaheim, California, there’s no such thing as a quiet morning. Three ram bunctious[1] brothers, Chris, Anthony, and the little guy George. All under the age of six, and all under the care of Joseph Demaco.

“It’s fulfilling, it’s terrific, and it is exhausting. It’s everything, but you can’t ask for anything more. “

Three years ago, Joseph was asking for a lot. Social workers had just taken the three boys away from the boys’ mom, Jody, who was battling a drug addiction. Jody is Joseph’s twin sister.

“My heart fell to the bottom of my stomach and I just, I could not, I could not speak. I was speechless. “

Joseph was just twenty with little experience and even less money. He was determined to raise his sister’s sons by himself.

“The social worker told me, shrieked to my face, men can’t take care of themselves, let alone take care of a child, and what makes you think? You can’t do it. “

After months of parenting classes, doctor’s appointments and a new job, Joseph convinced social workers someone his age could be a good parent. Last September, the adoptions became final. In the month since, shuttling the boys to daycare, working 14 dollar an hour job and cooking dinner, Uncle Joey has become Dad.

“I kind of have it ~~~~, because, I mean, I don’t have a very big family as it is. And so what I do have I cherish. “

He certainly has his hands full. Among the challenges, Chris, his oldest, was born with a spinal degenerative disease and frequently needs to see doctors. Joseph is always there.

“I’m very proud of him actually. I think of him as one of my children, so to speak, because he’s young enough to be one of my children.“

But old enough to be a Dad.

Peter Alexander, NBC news, Annheim, California.

NEWS EXPRESSION‎ REVIEW (4회)                         SEPTEMBER 2007                 INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

1. 과거에는 아기가 갖고 있는 외모, 성격 혹은 지능 등의 특징들이 부모에 의해 인위적으로 조절될 수 있는 것들이 아니었으나 유전공학의 발달로 이제는 어느 정도 ‘맞춤형 아기’가 등장하고 있다.

(Sometimes families happen by design, but often they just happen, because people need to come together.)

2. 누가 시키지 않는데도 자발적으로 나서서 군복무 의무를 하겠다는 연예인들과 유학생들 중의 일부는 눈에 보이지 않는 사회적 압력이 어느 정도 작용한 결과로 여겨진다. 

(Tonight we have the story of a young man who raised his hand and volunteered to take on an instant family, because a member of his own family could not.)

3. 가족이 많고 집이 넓지 않은 경우 아침은 항상 부산하고 소란할 수 밖에 없다.   

(At the Demaco household in Anaheim, California, there’s no such thing as a quiet morning)

4. 사회복지부는 부모들이 특정 기준에 부합하지 못하는 경우, 예를 들어 약물 중독 혹은 재정적 무능력 등으로 인해 부모가 자녀를 제대로 돌볼 수 없다고 판단하는 경우 양육권을 박탈한다.     

(Social workers had just taken the three boys away from the boys’ mom, Jody, who was battling a drug addiction.)

5. 요즘 세대의 부모들은 자녀를 잘 키우겠다는 의욕이 강해 자녀를 갖기도 전에 부모 강좌를 일부러 듣는 사람들이 점차 늘고 있다. 

(After months of parenting classes, doctor’s appointments and a new job, Joseph convinced social workers someone his age could be a good parent.)

6. 장장 45일간의 길고 긴 협상 끝에 한국인 인질 19명의 석방이 확정되어 본국으로 돌아오게 되었지만 그들을 정작 맞는 것은 차가운 반응과 무관심이 될 것이다.  

(Last September, the adoptions became final.)

7. 직장에 출퇴근하고 하루에 10만원 정도의 벌이를 하고 그 과정에서 지하철 혹은 버스에서 짐짝처럼 시달리는 것이 도시인들의 일상이다.   

(In the month since, shuttling the boys to daycare, working 14 dollar-an hour job and cooking dinner, Uncle Joey has become Dad.)

8. 대통령직은 엄청나게 정신없을 것이 확실하다. 해야할 일이 굉장히 많겠지만 경제를 잘 운용하는 것이 가장 힘들 것이다. 그렇지 않으면 ‘제일 중요한 것은 경제야, 멍청아”라고 하는 말을 들을 테니까. 

(He certainly has his hands full. Among the challenges, Chris, his oldest, was born with a spinal degenerative disease and frequently needs to see doctors. Joseph is always there.)

NEWS EXPRESSION‎ REVIEW (4회)                         SEPTEMBER 2007                 INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

1. 과거에는 아기가 갖고 있는 외모, 성격 혹은 지능 등의 특징들이 부모에 의해 인위적으로 조절될 수 있는 것들이 아니었으나 유전공학의 발달로 이제는 어느 정도 ‘맞춤형 아기’가 등장하고 있다.

(Sometimes families happen by design, but often they just happen, because people need to come together.)

1. In the past, features of a baby such as looks, personalities or intelligence were not something to be artificially controlled, but nowadays some of them are somewhat within control by design with the advances of bio-technology.

2. 누가 시키지 않는데도 자발적으로 나서서 군복무 의무를 하겠다는 연예인들과 유학생들 중의 일부는 눈에 보이지 않는 사회적 압력이 어느 정도 작용한 결과로 여겨진다. 

(Tonight we have the story of a young man who raised his hand and volunteered to take on an instant family, because a member of his own family could not.)

2. Some of the entertainers and students studying overseas, who raised their hands and volunteered to take on the military duty of serving the country, seem to have made their mind under the influence of invisible but clear social pressure.

3. 가족이 많고 집이 넓지 않은 경우 아침은 항상 부산하고 소란할 수 밖에 없다.   

(At the Demaco household in Anaheim, California, there’s no such thing as a quiet morning)

3. If with lots of family members and not so broad a space of a house, there can be no such thing as a quiet and orderly morning.

4. 사회복지부는 부모들이 특정 기준에 부합하지 못하는 경우, 예를 들어 약물 중독 혹은 재정적 무능력 등으로 인해 부모가 자녀를 제대로 돌볼 수 없다고 판단하는 경우 양육권을 박탈한다.    

(Social workers had just taken the three boys away from the boys’ mom, Jody, who was battling a drug addiction.)

4. Social workers take a child or children away from their parents in cases that they judge they can not properly take care of their children such as they are in drug addiction or financial disability.

5. 요즘 세대의 부모들은 자녀를 잘 키우겠다는 의욕이 강해 자녀를 갖기도 전에 부모 강좌를 일부러 듣는 사람들이 점차 늘고 있다. 

(After months of parenting classes, doctor’s appointments and a new job, Joseph convinced social workers someone his age could be a good parent.)

5. This generation of married couples is so enthusiastic about child care that there is an increasing number of couples who are taking parenting classes even before they have children.

6. 장장 45일간의 길고 긴 협상 끝에 한국인 인질 19명의 석방이 확정되어 본국으로 돌아오게 되었지만 그들을 정작 맞는 것은 차가운 반응과 무관심이 될 것이다. 

(Last September, the adoptions became final.)

6. After an epic, 45-day negotiations, the release of 19 Korean hostages has become final and they would come back to the arms of their families, but they will be met with nonchalance and cold response.

7. 직장에 출퇴근하고 하루에 10만원 정도의 벌이를 하고 그 과정에서 지하철 혹은 버스에서 짐짝처럼 시달리는 것이 도시인들의 일상이다.   

(In the month since, shuttling the boys to daycare, working 14 dollar-an hour job and cooking dinner, Uncle Joey has become Dad.)

7. Shuttling to work, working about 100-dollar-a day job and being treated like a dead fish on the subway or on a bus, all of these are the daily routines of city folks.

8. 대통령직은 엄청나게 정신없을 것이 확실하다. 해야할 일이 굉장히 많겠지만 경제를 잘 운용하는 것이 가장 힘들 것이다. 그렇지 않으면 ‘제일 중요한 것은 경제야, 멍청아”라고 하는 말을 들을 테니까. 

(He certainly has his hands full. Among the challenges, Chris, his oldest, was born with a spinal degenerative disease and frequently needs to see doctors. Joseph is always there.)

8. A president of a nation certainly has his or her hands full. Among the challenges, the main task would be to maintain economic stability, lest that he finds himself hearing, “It’s the economy, stupid.”  

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[1] probably alteration of rumbustious: marked by uncontrollable exuberance : UNRULY