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	• NEWS >> ATW March 11, 2004 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of March 11th, 2004. I’m Elissa Marra. In our top story this week…A new day dawns in Iraq with the stroke of a pen. 1—HAITI Members of the Iraqi Governing Council now have an interim constitution that should lead the way to elections and self-rule. Formal signing of the document was delayed twice, once by a terrorist attack in two Iraqi cities and again by a Shiite Muslim leader who said the interim constitution posed several future problems. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani still has reservations but urged his supporters to agree to the pact anyway. The interim constitution includes a 13-article bill of rights, outlines the shape of a parliament and the role of president. A vote on a permanent constitution is expected to be ready by late 2005. The US will be turning over power long before that. A new Iraqi government is to be in place by June 30th of this year. The new constitution was not welcomed by every Iraqi. At least 7 rockets were fired on a hotel used by the US-led coalition in Baghdad Sunday. One person was wounded. Reservation (n) a limiting qualification, condition or exception. ATW FACT Baghdad was founded in 764 A.D. It became a center of learning and culture until it was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century. Iraq’s capital today is home to 5 million people, the largest and most diverse city in Iraq. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… -Who is in control in Haiti? -more deadly clashes in the Middle East -and an historic day in China. #2—HAITI A celebration of the overthrow of Haiti’s president turned deadly Sunday. US Marines and French legionnaires were among the peace keepers escorting a victory march that began with a few hundred people. That number had swollen into the thousands by the time they passed supporters of deposed leader Jean Bertrand Aristide. Witnesses claim Aristide’s followers were the ones who began firing into the crowd. Dozens of people were wounded while five, including Spanish journalist Ricardo Ortega, were killed. Meanwhile, Aristide continues to claim that he is still Haiti’s president and that he will return some day to take back control. Aristide is currently living in the Central African Republic though his long-term plans remain unclear. Depose (v) remove from an office or a position of power #3— MIDDLE EAST Protests continue over Israel’s security fence separating it from Palestinian settlements. Palestinians clashed with Israeli’s troops over the barrier which they say disrupts their lives and livelihoods. Construction on the wall continued over the weekend despite a halt-work order from Israel’s Supreme Court. There was even more violence over the weekend in the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops moved in what they called pinpoint operations against suspected terrorist locations. The raids resulted in fierce battles and the deaths of at least 14 Palestinians. Israel says it was trying to find the leaders of recent attacks on Israeli settlements. Pinpoint (n) a precisely identified and limited target #4— —CHINA PROPERTY Lawmakers in China are considering measures that would force historic change in that country for the first time since communists took control in 1949. China’s parliament is discussing a constitutional amendment that would protect and allow private property. A total of 10 amendments are being considered including one to preserve human rights. The changes are a continuation of the swing from the conservative communist rules of former leader Mao Tse Tung to an increasingly capitalist economy. Among the human rights included in the language of the amendments would be rights to food and housing. It does not include any mention of the government’s crackdown on the protestors who gathered in 1989 in Tiananmen Square. Capitalism (n) an economic system characterized by open competition in a free market. POP QUIZ #1 In our story about Iraq, when did we tell you a vote is expected on a permanent constitution? Was it 1. late 2004 2. early 2005 3. late 2005 And the answer is…number 3. A vote on a permanent constitution for Iraq is not expected until late in 2005. OLD CLUE #1— CARACAS And now it’s time for the answers to our clues in the news… Our first clue is the location of Caracas, Venezuela. That’s where hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to protest the latest chapter in the effort to recall President Hugo Chavez. The National Elections Council disqualified more than one million signatures from a petition to recall Chavez, leaving the effort well short of the 2.4-million names required. For his part, Chavez warned the US to stay away from Venezuela. The US continues to deny that it has ever tried to overthrown President Chavez. OLD CLUE #2—FOX VISITS BUSH Fill in the blanks on our second clue and you get Fox visits Bush. Mexican President Vincente Fox visited US President George Bush at Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas. The two leaders discussed a wide range of issues. President Bush announced he will back away from a plan to require fingerprints and photographs of those who cross the US-Mexico border on q frequent basis. Presidents Bush and Fox also back a proposal to give temporary visas to illegal immigrants who are working in the US. That proposal faces growing opposition in the US Congress. OLD CLUE #3—GEORGIA ELECTIONS And finally, unscramble our third clue and you have Georgia elections. The former Soviet republic was one of two countries to hold elections over the weekend. Greece also sent voters to the polls where that country’s conservatives returned to office for the first time in more than a decade. The most immediate concern for their conservatives and their leader, Costas Caramanlis, is to overcome the huge delays in the preparations for the Summer Olympic Games in Athens this August. Caramanlis, who will be Greece’s new prime minister, will assemble his cabinet this week. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history…March 12th, 1912, Juliette Gordon Low started what she called the Girl Guides in Savannah, Georgia. Now known as the Girl Scouts, there are nearly 3 million girls involved in the US and more than 8 million in 144 countries worldwide. FEATURE SCIENCE DESK FEATHERED DINOSAURS Recent discoveries in China have scientists believing that your favorite dinosaurs may have had feathers! Check it out on this week’s Science Desk! FEATURE SCIENCE DESK FEATHERED DINOSAURS (George Wolfe) “Our latest Science news centers on birds of a feather, or should we say Dinosaurs of a feather. Since the recent discovery of a fossil of an ancient bird called archaeopteryx, Paleontologists have been convinced that there are close ties between reptiles and birds. The logical belief was that the scales of the first dinosaurs started to change when some primitive reptiles took up life in the trees. Feathers, of course, would have been the perfect skin covering for the demands of flight. It turns out, that we may have had it all backwards. Recent fossil finds from China show that indeed, feathers may have come long before flight. That’s right your favorite dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor may have had feathered skin. Why all the confusion? To answer that question, you have to understand how fossils are made. Generally, fossils are formed by the replacement of bony material with minerals. Skin is not bony, so usually it decays long before the fossilization events finish. It takes a very unique set of circumstances to fossilize skin; one of those circumstances is if the skin is covered in something—like feathers! Fossils uncovered from 125 million years ago in China include non-flying forms that clearly show skin—they also show feathers and tufts of feathers all over the organism. The next question of course is when did flight develop? Were there dinosaurs like modern turkeys, who run along the ground to launch themselves into the air, or an alternative hypothesis; a group of tree dwellers who took to gliding and eventually flight. A recent find, a birdlike dinosaur called Microraptor Gui had four feathered limbs, adapted for tree dwelling. These limbs would have been perfect for flying. The full story still remains to be told. You can learn more about the cretaceous age and the history of flight by clicking onto the ‘Assignment: The World’ web site at ATWONLINE.ORG…and that’s it from the Science Desk. ISN’T IT COOL HOT LAVA Scientists are studying the latest activity of Kilauea (key-lah-way) on the Island of Hawaii. Eruptions from Kilauea began in January of 1983. This current flow is the furthest from the vent lava has traveled since last October. If it crusts over, it may form a lava tube. A lava tube would give the eruption an insulated route to the ocean. But it could also stop and dry up. Believe it or not, scientists consider this to be just the latest event of the same eruption that began over twenty years ago. ISSUE President Bush has released his first commercials in his campaign to win a second term in the White House. The ads include images from the terrorist attacks that killed several thousand Americans on September 11th. Critics of the ads include a firefighters union, some relatives of the victims of 9-11 and supporters of Democratic candidate John Kerry. They say the ads are tasteless and go back on the President’s pledge not to use the tragedy as a political issue. But the President’s supporters, some 9-11 family members and others, say the President is well within his right to remind voters of an important experience shared by all Americans. They say it’s a good reminder of those who died and of their sacrifice. They say it’s fair for the President to also remind voters of his war on terrorism. So, what do you think… “Should the President use images from 9-11 in his campaign ads?” Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received over four hundred responses to our issue question…” Should foreign born citizens be able to run for President?” The majority of you fifty five percent say yes, they should be able to run for President. Thirty four percent say no, they should not. Eleven percent are undecided. Some of you have security concerns. Amanda H. of Marathon, Wisconsin writes, “Even though (they) have been in the U.S. for 20 years, they still could be loyal to their home country. Some people might not feel safe. “ Laura Kate R. of Mt. Solon, Virginia feels foreign-born citizens have other options. Laura writes, “Foreign-born citizens are allowed to run for any other office…they should be happy with that.” The majority of you, however, feel being an American citizen is the most important qualification. Wade P. of Marathon, Wisconsin writes, “All it should require is being an American citizen. (We all) came from many different countries back in the day.”Josh E. of Rush, New York reminds us…”Foreign-born citizens had to swear their allegiance to the United States. Natural born citizens don’t have to…” And finally, Nicholas S. of Greece, New York brings this interesting perspective. Nicholas writes, “I feel it is especially not fair to adopted children of American-born citizens. The U.S. is the only country they have ever loved or known. Why punish them?” MAILBAG CLOSE We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions…““Should the President use images from 9-11 in his campaign ads?” ” and “Should the Iditarod race stop running?” 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 elections in Greece, what did we tell you was the most immediate concern for the new government? Was it the Olympics the economy the environment And the correct answer is number one. The new conservative government has only a few months to prepare Greece for the summer Olympics. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 28 Degrees, 36 minutes north latitude 77 Degrees, 12 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a fill-in the blanks, two words R__S__I__N E__E__T__O__S And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter…two words: ANICH MADMENSENT 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. © 2004 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.