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		• NEWS >> ATW Script November 21, 2002 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions… “Should space station funding be cut?” Responses are due Monday, December 2 and “Would you consider becoming a teacher?” Responses to this question are due Monday, December 9. OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of November twenty-first, 2002. I’m Alicia Claussell. In our top story this week… an advance team of U-N inspectors arrive in Baghdad. #1— WEAPONS INSPECTORS TBacked by U-S threats of force, an advance team of United Nation’s weapons inspectors landed in Iraq on Monday to resume the search for weapons of mass destruction. After the L-one-hundred cargo plane with a black “U-N” on its side landed at Baghdad airport, chief U-N inspector Hans Blix told reporters that the atmosphere was “tense,” but that credible inspections were “in the interest of Iraq and the interest of the world.” Blix and his twenty-five-member advance team were met at the airport by an Iraqi delegation, which was set up as a counterpart and liaison to the previous U-N inspection team that was in Baghdad four years ago. The inspectors are equipped with much more sophisticated equipment this time, including hand-held meters that will detect small particles of gases and chemical elements and they will be guided by U-S intelligence planes gathering site information form the air. Delegation (n) a person or group officially appointed to represent others. ATW FACT Witnesses in the area of an oil spill off the coast of Spain said parts of the sea were covered in a dark layer of fuel oil up to 15-inches thick. Source: World Television News, 11/18/02 INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… -tensions flare in the Middle East… -an oil tanker spills off the coast of Spain… -and finally, heavy rains soak northern Italy. #2— MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS Israeli helicopters and tanks hit Gaza City early on Monday, targeting a main Palestinian security compound. In Gaza City, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at the headquarters of Preventative Security, the main official Palestinian force. Tanks and soldiers moved in, shelling buildings and setting fires. Two Palestinian security officers and a T-V cameraman were slightly injured. The Israeli forces pulled out after more than three hours, leaving several of the eleven buildings in the security compound in ruins. Israeli officials described the attack as “self-defense” because they consider them to be a part of the terrorism organization. Palestinians fired on the troops and shot missiles at tanks that moved in following the helicopter attacks. Israel has regained control of most West Bank Palestinian population centers in retaliation for the ongoing terror attacks on Israel. Compound (n) a separate area, usually fenced or walled, containing residences, barracks or other buildings. #3— OIL SPILL IN SPAIN A Netherlands-based international salvage company struggled to keep the oil tanker Prestige intact in rough weather off the coast of Spain, but the tanker broke in two Monday. Spain battled to contain the first part of the oil spill Sunday as slicks washed up on the beaches on the country’s northwestern coast and trapped wildlife. The bulk of the oil, however, remained aboard the Bahaman Prestige, some seventy miles off the Spanish coast in the Atlantic Ocean. Officials hoped the remaining oil would sink with the two parts of the tanker. The twenty-six-year-old Prestige was carrying over 85-thousand tons of fuel oil when it wrecked in the rocky coastline, known as the “Coast of Death” for its many shipwrecks. The region is rich in wildlife and shellfish, but due to the oil spill, government officials banned all fishing until further notice. Contain (v) to prevent or limit the spread of. #4— FLOODS IN ITALY Heavy rains battered northern Italy over the weekend, causing widespread flooding and landslides in some areas. By Sunday, water levels had reached three feet, forcing tourists to wade to their hotels. Flooding is a continual problem in the canal city of Venice. On Monday, the water reached almost five feet above sea level-- its fifth-highest level in forty years. Water gushed into Saint Mark’s Square for the entire weekend. The rains subsided briefly, but the threat of flooding remained as more bad weather was expected this week. Sea level (n) the horizontal plane at the same level as the surface of the sea. POP QUIZ #1 In our story about Iraq, what do the inspectors have at their disposal this time? Is it… 1- Many more inspectors 2- Maps and building blueprints 3- More sophisticated equipment And the correct answer is number three… the U-N inspectors have much more sophisticated equipment to help this time. OLD CLUE #1— GIBRALTAR 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 Gibraltar. In a stinging rebuff to any plans for joint power, nearly ninety-nine percent of voters on Gibraltar rejected the idea of Britain sharing its colony with Spain. Gibraltar insists it wants to remain British and refused to attend any talks unless given equal say. British forces captured the 14-hundred-foot high rock from Spain back in 1704. Once a strategic military post, Gibraltar is now a major tourist resort with offshore banking and port facilities. OLD CLUE #2—BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT Fill in the blanks of our second clue and you’d get “Bolivian President.” Gonzalo Sanchez de Lazada visited President Bush at the White House last week. The Bolivian president said that Bolivia needs to create more jobs by developing industry and trade there. Sanchez won a second term in office this summer, but his opposition won a sizable number of seats in the parliament. OLD CLUE #3—AFRICAN TRADE And finally, unscramble the letters of our third clue and you’d get “African Trade.” U-S Secretary of Commerce, Donald Evans, made a three-nation trip to Morocco, Ghana and South Africa last week to discuss trade issues. Evans pledged to do everything possible to expand and enhance the growing U-S --African trade relationship. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… on November twenty-first, 1718… English pirate Edward Teach—better known as “Blackbeard”—was killed in battle off the Outer Banks in North Carolina. FEATURE JELL-O MUSEUM Have you ever been to a Jell-O museum? Wyatt Doremus has…Check it Out! Wyatt: Here in Leroy, a small town just outside of Rochester NY, one of America’s most famous desserts was invented over 100 years ago. It’s the dessert there’s always room for—JELL-O. Lynn Beluscio (LeRoy Historian): Pearl Bixby Waite was a carp[enter in Leroy in his early 20s and he decided he was going to tintroduce a new dessert and he called it Jell-O, actually his wife named it Jell-O with a hyphen o, and it was really nothing more than powered gelatin, sugar, flavoring and coloring which he then put in a box and tried to get people interested in buying his new dessert…and for two years he packaged it on his kitchen table. Wyatt: After many attempts to market his new, delicious dessert Pearl Waite would fail and in 1899 he sold JELL-O to a successful businessman named Orator Woodward for only $450 dollars. This would prove to be a very wise investment—by 1907 the company was grossing a million dollars a year, making JELL-O on of Leroy’s most important industries. Wyatt: Thanks to a successful marketing campaign which introduced four year old Elizabeth King as the ‘JELL-O Girl’ as well as a series of recipes printed in the ‘Ladies Home Journal’ sales continued to mount and on December 31, 1925 the JELL-O Company Inc. was sold to what would eventually become the General Foods Corporation for 60 million dollars. Today, Jello is manufactured in … ISN’T IT COOL! Medieval Mouse A 700-year old fresco has been found during the restoration of an Austrian church with a figure that has round ears and pointed nose…not unlike a certain Disney character! A fresco is a form of painting done on fresh, moist plaster with earth colors dissolved in water. The medieval Mickey stands among a group of animals on the outside wall of the church. They surround St. Christopher, who is standing in a river. Art historians say the fresco dates from around 1300…more than 600 years before the Walt Disney character was created. Actually, experts say they aren’t sure it’s a mouse at all. The image could instead be a weasel. ISSUE School districts across the country are experiencing shortages of teachers and substitute teachers. Some people speculate that because salaries are higher in many other professions, that people who might have gone into teaching are now looking for better pay in other fields. Comparatively lower salaries have always been a part of the teaching profession, but other hurdles now get in the way for teachers. Each state may have its own certification program, so that teachers need to reapply if they move to a different state. This can take a long time and require additional coursework or experience. Teaching also used to be a great job for parents because they had summers off and shorter days, but now teachers fill their summers and late afternoons with committee work, training and tutoring. Officials are looking into ways to boost teachers’ salaries and standardize certification within the states. And for people who do choose the profession, they love touching the lives of students and making a difference everyday. Well, we’d like to know…”Would you consider becoming a teacher?” Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received nearly seven hundred responses to our issue question, “Should some units in middle school gym classes be coed?” The majority of you, fifty-nine percent say yes, they should be coed. Thirty-two percent say no they should not. Nine percent are undecided. Many of you feel coed classes won’t work because boys are physically bigger, stronger and too competitive. Michelle S. of Orchard Park, New York writes, “Boys and girls like to compete. If gym were coed, it would take all the fun out of it.” Mike B. of Keene, New Hampshire agrees. Mike writes, “Lots of girls just stand around. Boys would have stronger competition playing against other boys.” Kelly Q. of Winchester, Virginia writes, “Boys get too competitive. They think they have to win!” The majority of you, however, feel coed classes might offer better competition for all involved. Bethany K. of Pittsford, New York writes, “Athletic kids should be challenged! If a girl was good at soccer (or) a boy at gymnastics … they would be more challenged by playing against better athletes.” Abby D. of Portage, Wisconsin adds, “they would learn to work together as a team.” Veronica L. of Saranac Lake, New York thinks there are added benefits, Veronica writes, “Some kids have trouble getting along with the other gender… being together might improve their social skills. It might help them to make new friends.” Finally, Teiko A. of Mequon, Wisconsin adds, “The better players would be more challenged playing others at their level. Some of (those) who aren’t as good would get better … playing better players.” MAILBAG CLOSE We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions… “Should space station funding be cut?” and “Would you consider becoming a teacher?” 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 the oil spill, what was a salvage company trying to keep intact? Was it… 1) The fragile ecosystem 2) The 26-year-old tanker 3) Fencing to protect the coast And the correct answer is number two… the salvage company tried to keep the tanker intact in the rough weather. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue is a location… 28 Degrees, 43 minutes north latitude 77 Degrees, 18 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a fill-in-the-blank, it’s two words… _ H _ T T _ E _ I S _ I O _ And finally, our third clue is a newsmaker. Who is Nancy Pelosi? 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 Alicia Claussell. We’ll see you again next week. © 2003 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.