Weekend Edition Saturday on WRVO-1: NPR News

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, host: Over the border in Vermont, it's still hard to get around because of flooding from Irene. More than 500 miles of roads and at least two dozen bridges are out. Earlier this week, reporter Nancy Cohen took a road trip in the southern part of the state, one of the places that was hardest hit.

NANCY COHEN: On route 112 in Halifax, a stretch of road is missing. The asphalt has caved into the North River. A guardrail is under water. But despite the conditions, Brianna Inman is forging north to Whitingham.

Transcript

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, host: This week is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, was coordinating the national relief effort in Hurricane Irene's wake. Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul was calling for the agency's elimination. He said quote, "FEMA has one of the worst reputations for a bureaucracy ever. It's a system of bureaucratic central economic planning, which is a policy that is deeply flawed."

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, host: Time now for your letters.

(SOUNDBITE OF LETTERS THEME MUSIC)

SIMON: Last week, we interviewed filmmaker Christoph Baaden about Oregon's near 200-mile relay race Hood to Coast.

CHRISTOPH BAADEN: There really isn't any kind of prize money or different medals for people finishing this thing first. It's just for the love of, I think, of running but more importantly, camaraderie.

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, host: We've been motoring through the summer with our road trip Honey, Stop the Car. We're curious about those commemorative plaques and monuments in towns all over the country that honor local heroes or events. This morning - markers. Member station WSHU takes us to New York's Hudson River Valley and to a dramatic statue of a teenage girl from the Revolutionary War.

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, host: College applications contain a multitude of boxes to check. Potential students may be asked to disclose their race or their religion. Now, a college in Illinois is adding another check-box, inviting applicants to disclose their sexual orientation.

Elmhurst College is thought to be the first in the country to do this. Applicants who answer yes could get a scholarship worth up to a third of their tuition.

We're joined now from studios of WBEZ in Chicago by Dean of Admissions at Elmhurst College.