Assignment:The World Online Episodes Lesson Plans Classroom Viewpoints


NEWS >> ATW Script December 12, 2002

Yearly Script Program Index

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We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions… “Should states restrict cell phone use while driving?” Responses are due Monday, December 16 and “Who or what would you choose as Newsmaker of the Year?” Responses are due Monday, January 6.


OPEN/WELCOME


Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of December twelfth, 2002. I’m Elissa Marra.

In our top story this week… weapons inspectors turn up their first discrepancy.

#1— IRAQ UPDATE

Baghdad’s arms declaration to the U-N arrived in the U-S by a German Lufthansa airline Monday. Copies of the report went out to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, another to the U-N Inspection Commission in New York and a third to the U-N Security Council, also in New York. The report is written in Arabic and totals 12-thousand pages. In it Iraq denies owning any weapons of mass destruction, or the intent to produce or obtain any in the future. The long-awaited document includes bound copies of volumes devoted separately to nuclear, chemical, biological and missile activities. The U-N Security Council agreed to give the U-S, Russia, France, China and Britain full access to the Iraqi declaration. The other ten council members, including Iraq’s neighbor, Syria, will only see the declaration once sensitive information is removed, such as possible bomb-making instructions. In the meantime, weapons inspectors returned Monday to Iraq’s huge nuclear complex for further inspections.

Obtain (v) to come into possession of.

ATW FACT

Brushfires in drought-stricken Australia have scorched 250-thousand acres of land in one week. The Southern Hemisphere summer temperatures have reached one-hundred and four degrees, fanning the fires even more.

Source: World Television News, 12/12/02

INTRO REST OF THE NEWS

In the rest of the news this week…

-the Caribbean Community held a summit in Cuba.

-the space shuttle Endeavour returns home—finally…

-and finally, President Bush nominates a new treasury secretary.


#2— CUBAN SUMMIT

Cuban President Fidel Castro hosted the leaders of fourteen Caribbean Community states on Sunday. Only the tiny state of Montserrat was absent. Castro told the leaders that Cuba plans to renew its request to join a major European aid agreement and he promised one-thousand medical workers to help fight AIDS in Caribbean countries. Cuba initially withdrew its request to join the Cotonou Agreement between Europe and seventy-seven developing nations back in 2000, accusing European officials of imposing discriminatory conditions involving human rights in the communist nation. Castro said some conditions had changed and that is why Cuba now wants to join.

Discriminatory (adv) a judgement, good or bad, against a person or idea based on the association and not based on merit.

#3— SHUTTLE RETURNS

After a record-setting streak of bad weather, space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth Saturday, bringing home a U-S astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts. The three spent the last six months living aboard the international space station. The spaceship swooped through a hazy afternoon sky and touched down on the runway, three days late, to complete a five-point-seven-million mile journey. NASA made the decision that the shuttle had to land Saturday, as on-board supplies and fuel was running low. The Endeavour crew was able to land in Florida, but would have landed in California as an alternate site.

#4— BUSH NAMES SNOW

President George Bush on Monday introduced John Snow, chair of the transportation and railroad conglomerate C-S-X Corporation, as his choice for the vacant U-S Treasury post. If approved by the U-S Senate in coming weeks, Snow will replace ousted Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, who was asked to step down last Friday. Snow served as a deputy undersecretary for transportation during the Ford administration and brings a background in law and economics. Speaking at the White House, Snow pledged to help build and maintain a prosperous economic policy for the country.

Conglomerate (n) a corporation consisting of a number of divisions in a variety of unrelated industries.

POP QUIZ #1

In our story about Iraq, the U-N shared the declaration with some Security Council member countries? Was it because they…

Need to remove sensitive material

Didn’t have enough copies

Need to translate from English


And the correct answer is number one… sensitive material needs to be removed, such as bomb-making instructions.

OLD CLUE #1— DOHAR, QATAR

And now it’s time for the answers to our last clues in the news…

Find the location of our first clue and you’d get Dohar, Qatar. The U-S military opened a new command center at a heavily guarded base in Qatar. The base would be ready to serve as the main headquarters for a war against Iraq. Two senior U-S senators met on Sunday with U-S commanders participating in military exercises at the base. On Monday, the troops based in Qatar began a week-long computer-assisted war game that is a rehearsal for a possible war.

OLD CLUE #2—TERROR TRIAL

Fill in the blanks of our second clue and you’d get “Terror Trial.” The trial of four men suspected of ties to al-Qaeda started last week in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The men—two Algerians, a Frenchman and a Dutchman-- were charged with plotting attacks on U-S targets across Europe. Specifically, they are accused of running a terrorist support network out of a Rotterdam apartment to assist strikes against the U-S Embassy in Paris and a military base in Belgium.

OLD CLUE #3—BRAZILIAN LEADER

And finally, find the role of our newsmaker and you’d get, “Brazilian Leader.” Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was scheduled to visit with U-S President George Bush Tuesday at the White House. The newly elected da Silva will officially take office in Brazil on January first. Da Silva’s visit was mostly intended as a relationship-building trip, although the two leaders discussed trade between the countries. Da Silva wants to move Brazil away from its excessive dependence on the U-S for goods and support more local, Brazilian companies.

THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY

This week in world history… on December twelfth, 1937… Japanese aircraft sank the U-S gunboat Panay on China’s Yangtze River. Japan apologized and paid two-point-two-million dollars in reparations.

FEATURE
MEMORIAL ART GALLERY FEATURE

If you ever wanted to be a famous sculpture then this next feature is for you, check it out!

Wyatt:
Here at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY kids are getting a first hand look into the world of French Artist Edgar Degas as well as an opportunity to make their very own Sculptures.

Marlene Hamman-Whitmore; Curator of Education at Memorial Art Gallery:
We had about 15 3rd and 4th graders and we talked about what artists do, there's lots of different ways to be an artist but the most important thing is that an artist communicates what he or she feels about the world around them and there’s lots of different ways to do that.

The exhibition that is currently up is ‘Edgar Degas Figures in Motion’ and really the focus of the exhibit is the sculptures he did. There are 73 bronze statues. One of the kids favorite pieces was ‘Little Dancer: Aged 14 years’, it is his largest sculpture that he ever did, that we know of—it stands about 40 inches tall and it was the only sculpture that he ever showed in his lifetime.

Well what the children did after the exhibition was they went down to our creative workshop which is our art school and they made they’re own sculpture similar to the way Degas worked. They began with wire, or a wire skeleton if you will and then they added plastacine clay and then they went back and added colored clay for the details…so what they did was, they pretty much made a sculpture the way the Degas made sculpture I think that one of the main goals of Memorial Art Gallery or really any museum is to really give kids a bigger view of what’s out there, to really expand they’re horizons--so it gives kids really the freedom to move towards a space to see for themselves. It gives them a taste of some of the possibilities and I think that’s the most important thing you can do for a child.

Wyatt:
For ‘Assignment the World’ I’m Wyatt Doremus

ISN’T IT COOL!
Cuba Chess

The world’s largest exhibition of simultaneous chess was played in Havana, Cuba last week. The event, held as part of the closing ceremonies of what has been named the first Cuban Olympics, pitted five-hundred and fifty Cuban chess masters against eleven thousand amateurs. The amateur chess lovers included Cuba’s President Fidel Castro who spent a little more than an hour playing Cuban Grand Master Silvino Garcia, before heading to a summit of Caribbean leaders.

ISSUE

It’s the time of year that we ask you, our viewers, to consider who, or what, you think made the biggest impact on the world during the year 2002. You might look to world leaders who are working toward peace in their regions, or you may think that a leader who caused the most tumult and terror was in the news most. In years past, some viewers chose people that impact the lives of children, like parents, teachers, sports figures or astronauts. One year, the computer won as Newsmaker of the Year, so it’s not limited to just people in the news. As you consider your choice, think about the entire year and who or what you read or heard about most in the news. It could be good news or bad, but let us know the person or thing you found to be the most influential. We’d like to know… “Who or what would you choose as Newsmaker of the Year?” Discuss this with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions.

MAILBAG


We received nearly nine hundred responses to our issue question, “Would you consider being a teacher?” The majority of you, fifty percent say yes you would consider being a teacher. Forty four percent say no, you would not. Six percent are undecided. Many of you feel teachers do not get paid enough money for all their hard work. Chucky F. of Rome, New York writes, “It is too much work and responsibility for the pay.” Rachel U. of Staunton, Virginia adds, “I wouldn’t make enough money to support my family. Teachers do a lot of work for a little amount of money.” Joe M. of Liverpool, New York has additional concerns. Joe writes, “I would get sick a lot from kids having colds.” The majority of you, however, feel teaching would be a rewarding career choice. Maggie B. of Wind Lake, Wisconsin writes, “Money isn’t everything. Just being able to be with children and teaching them would be fun.” Katie B. of Adams, New York adds, “It’s not about the money; it’s about doing what you like. You could really make a difference in someone’s life.” Stephanie D. of Pittsford, New York agrees and writes, “True teachers derive pleasure in their occupation, even though they don’t get paid large sums of money… they can help students in life by simply helping to educate them about the world.” Amanda L. of New Berlin, Wisconsin adds, “Every day teachers make sure this new generation is educated. One of their students could discover the cure for cancer. Just think of the power.” Finally Becky W. of Randolph, New Jersey writes, “I like to take care of little kids. It would be a great experience even though it is extremely hard.”

MAILBAG CLOSE


We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions… ard to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions… “Should states restrict cell phone use while driving?” and “Who or what would you choose as Newsmaker of the Year?” 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 space shuttle, why did NASA determine that the shuttle had to land Saturday? Was it because…

More bad weather was on the way

A computer glitch occurred

On-board supplies and fuel were running low

And the correct answer is number three… Endeavour had to land because supplies and fuel was running low.

NEW CLUES

And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news…

Our first clue is a location…

10 Degrees, 30 minutes north latitude
66 Degrees, 58 minutes west longitude

Our second clue is a fill-in-the-blank, it’s two words…

_ A L _ S

_ E _ U _ E

And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter, it is two words…

T P N A E R M L A I

E T V O

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



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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.










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