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		• NEWS >> ATW Script November 7, 2002 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions… “Would you live in a foreign country?” Responses are due Monday, November 11 and “Should some units in middle school gym classes be coed?” Responses due Monday, November 18 OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of November seventh, 2002. I’m Elissa Marra. In our top story this week… Israel’s government changes, but attacks continue in the conflicted region. #1— ISRAEL A Palestinian suicide attacker struck Monday while wrestling with an Israeli security guard at a shopping mall in a Tel Aviv suburb. The guard, the attacker and one other civilian died in the attack. Twelve other people were injured. The bombing is the eighty-first by Palestinian militants in just two years. It marked a first test for Israel’s new defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, who was sworn into office Monday. In addition to Mofaz, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to become Israel’s new foreign minister, under the condition that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon holds early elections. Sharon announced Monday that new elections would be held in February. Sharon had first said holding a new election would be irresponsible but changed his mind when he realized he was unable to govern with his minority coalition. Sharon’s national-unity government fell apart last week when the defense minister resigned and other Labor Party ministers followed. Militant (n) an person who is actively aggressive for a cause. ATW FACT Turkey is the only Muslim member of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Turkey borders Iraq, which makes it crucial in any possible action against Iraq. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… -a car explosion in Yemen linked to the U-S… -Turkish voters give the ruling party parliamentary control… -and finally, a volcano erupts in Ecuador. #2— YEMEN BOMBING Six al-Qaeda suspects were killed when their car blew up in northwest Yemen Monday. American officials said a Central Intelligence Agency unmanned aircraft fired a missile striking the car. One of the men was considered a senior al-Qaeda figure and top operative for Osama bin Laden that was suspected of responsibility in the attack on the U-S-S Cole two years ago. Tribesmen in the area told Associated Press reporters that they saw a military helicopter hovering overhead shortly before the explosion. A C-I-A spokesman refused to comment and White House officials would not confirm the strike in Yemen or say whether President Bush personally authorized it. Hover (v) to hang, suspended in the air. #3— TURKISH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS The Justice Department and the Development Party won an overwhelming parliamentary majority in Sunday’s Turkish elections. It was the first time in fifteen years that any party was in a position to govern alone, largely as a result of voter fury over a devastated economy. The party has Islamic roots and moved quickly to soothe worries that it would overturn Turkey’s pro-Western stance. The elections also marked the ouster of Turkey’s longtime dominant political class. The party of the outgoing prime minister won only one-percent of the vote and the coalition partners were below the ten percent necessary for entry into parliament. Parliament (n) the national legislature in several countries; similar to the U-S Congress. #4— VOLCANOES A volcano outside Ecuador’s capital spewed a vast column of hot ash on Sunday, forcing the closure of its airports and a nearby highway. There were no reports of injuries from the eruption of Reventador, a nearly 12-thousand-foot volcano that is located only sixty miles northeast of Quito on the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains. The largest eruption sent up clouds of burning ash as high as seven miles. Winds carried the clouds of ash over the capital, forcing officials to cancel schools and close the airport. Meanwhile in Italy, Europe’s largest and most active volcano, Mount Etna, continues to spew lava but geologists say it appears to be slowing down. Eruption (n) the ejection of molten rock, steam and ash from a volcano. POP QUIZ #1 In our story about Israel, why were there so many changes in Israel’s government? Was it because… 1- Runoff elections decided a new cabinet 2- Sharon’s cabinet fell apart 3- Early elections were held And the correct answer s number two… Ariel Sharon’s cabinet fell apart last week following the resignation of his defense minister. OLD CLUE #1— BAGHDAD, IRAQ And now it’s time for the answers to last week’s clues in the news… Find the location of our first clue and you’d get Baghdad, Iraq. President Saddam Hussein indicated Monday that he would not reject outright a new U-N resolution on weapon inspections. Saddam said Iraq would examine the conditions the new resolution imposes before he decides whether to comply. The comments appeared to mark a shift by the Iraqi leader, who before this, maintained he would only accept weapon inspections on terms agreed upon in earlier resolutions. OLD CLUE #2—RAMADAN Fill in the blanks of our second clue and you’d get “Ramadan.” It is during this ninth month of the Muslim calendar that Muslims observe the Fast of Ramadan. Muslims fast during the daylight hours and eat small meals and visit family and friends during the evenings all month long. It is a time of worship and contemplation, especially marked with additional prayer. It is also a time of strengthening family and community ties. The Fast of Ramadan ends on December sixth this year. OLD CLUE #3—FREE TRADE And finally, unscramble the letters of our third clue and you’d get “Free Trade.” Business and government leaders from thirty-four countries in the Western Hemisphere held a summit over the weekend in Quito, Ecuador. They struggled to outline a time frame to set up the Free Trade Area of the Americas, a trade bloc envisioned as an extension of NAFTA—the North American Free Trade Agreement. The talks were overshadowed by criticism of U-S trade policies. Caribbean and Latin American leaders want the U-S to open its markets to the region. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… on November fifth, 1976… the U-N General Assembly approved ten resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa, including one characterizing the white-ruled government as “illegitimate.” FEATURE Want to get up close and personal with a real, live Wolf? Now's your chance--Check it Out! FEATURE Wolves (wolf howl) (kids howl) (Wyatt) Kent Webber is the director and founder of Mission Wolf, a peaceful wolf sanctuary located in the remote mountains of Colorado. Kent travels the country with some of his closest friends in an effort to educate people about wolves and the importance of habitat protection. (Kent) Most wolves we take care of are too afraid of people to even think of going into a classroom. The wolves that the kids got to see today are the very unusuals that are not afraid of humans. Mission Wolf evolved from american's desire to connect with nature. We have a lot of people that love nature but we've destroyed most of it so unfortunately people try to buy it and then when they buy a wild animal, it doesn't live in their house and then they don't want it. So that is what started Mission Wolf is taking care of unwanted pet wolves and then responding to public education needs. Wolves are very shy, they are very elusive, they are very gentle. They are very noble creatures. They know how to live in their environment. People, not just children, but even adults, when they see that wolf first walk into the room. They may have loved the wolves before we even got there but they gasp in fear. They sit, stoic and almost in shock. And then the wolf walks up and sniffs someone on the nose and they go (phewww) and they are over their fear. So that is what we did today is we brought wolves in very close so that the kids could get past their fear. And then also get to look at those beautiful yellow eyes, their thick fur coat and realize that these are an important part of our environment. (Wyatt) For ATW, I'm Wyatt Doremus. ISN’T IT COOL! Polar Halloween Kids around the country weren’t the only trick or treaters this Halloween. Meet Kalluk (Ka-look) and Tatqiq (Tot-keek), two polar bears at the San Diego Zoo. Animal trainers carved walrus heads out of pumpkins. After the seeds and fibers were cleaned out, the pumpkins were frozen and later decorated with uncooked spaghetti to simulate a walrus, the polar bear’s natural prey in the wild. The zoo’s animal behavior experts say “enrichment” is important and provides the animals with new and exciting activities. ISSUE Generally, when students hit middle school age, their physical education classes are no longer grouped as a coed class of boys and girls, but are split into all boys and all girl classes. Some people think that in certain lessons, it would be better to mix the two again. For example, for a unit on basketball, if the boys and girls were mixed, the girls would be challenged to play with stronger opponents. In a unit on gymnastics, the boys may learn more on flexibility from the girls. Others at that age, however, prefer being separated because there are such physical differences between them. They feel it would be equally frustrating for the boys and the girls to join together for gym classes. Well, we’d like to know what you think… “Should some units in middle school gym classes be coed?” Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received over six hundred responses to our issue question, “Would you like to live on the space station?” The majority of you, sixty seven percent, say no you would not like to live on the space station. Twenty seven percent say yes, you would. Six percent are undecided. Many of you think it would be cool to live in space. Jennifer R. of Hoven, South Dakota writes, “It would be a good experience for me. I would learn a lot … and would make new friends.” Karl F. of Vernon, New York agrees and adds, “It is peaceful. You could become famous and study space.” Kelsey H. of Ft. Defiance, Virginia writes, “I could see the stars closer up. Just the thought of being in space and living there would be cool.” The majority of you, however, don’t feel comfortable. Megan F. of Henderson, Nebraska writes, “I would miss the beauty of the earth, the skies and my friends.” Hannah S. of Rockford, Michigan adds, “You would have to live there a long time and you couldn’t see your parents.” Laura N. of Green Bay, Wisconsin agrees and writes, “I would feel like I am trapped. This doesn’t sound like a good place to live to me.” Zak H. of Waunakee, Wisconsin writes, “I could not live without real food for a whole year. I would also miss going to school.” Finally, Magen H. of Orchard Park, New York adds, “It would be scary and you wouldn’t be with your family and friends. But it is a good opportunity.” MAILBAG CLOSE We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions… “Would you live in a foreign country?” and “Should some units in middle school gym classes be coed?” If you would like to receive an Assignment: The World Press card, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. You may write to us here at Assignment: The World, Post Office Box three-zero-zero-twenty-one, Rochester, New York… one-4-6-zero-3… or you may contact us at the A-T-W website at http://atwonline.org./ We also read e-mail at atw@wxxi.org. POP QUIZ #2 In our story about Ecuador, what was the reason that officials closed the airport, schools and highways? Was it because of… 1) a volcano erupting 2) a terrorist attack 3) an earthquake And the correct answer is is number two… they called terrorism a threat to free trade. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue is a location… 37 Degrees, 35 minutes north latitude 127 Degrees, 03 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a fill-in-the-blank, it’s one word… _ _ E _ T I O _ _ A _ And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter, it’s two words… E S L H T U T N M O I I S S These are clues to stories we think will happen in the coming week. You can find the answers on radio and television newscasts and in newspapers and newsmagazines. We’ll reveal the answers on next week’s show. Good luck! GOOD-BYE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that’s it for this week’s show. From all of us here at Assignment: The World, I’m Elissa Marra. We’ll see you again next week. © 2003 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.