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	• NEWS >> ATW Script Evergreen, 2003 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of September twenty fifth, 2003. I’m Elissa Marra. In our top story this week… Some very different opinions at the United Nations. #1— BUSH AT UN In his annual speech before the U-N, President George Bush said the United States was right to invade Iraq without getting the U-N’s outright approval. He called again for other countries to help in the rebuilding of Iraq. While he set no timetable for the transfer of power back to the Iraqi people, sources within the White House say such a move may be as much as a year away. That answer hasn’t pleased France which has offered its own plan for Iraq to rule itself. French President Jacques Chirac is calling for an immediate transfer of power. In addition to those proposals, the United Nations will also consider the other major part of President Bush’s address. Bush wants to take new and stronger steps to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. The threat of nuclear war continues between Pakistan and India but the President’s plan seemed more directly aimed at North Korea and Iran. North Korea has only recently admitted to having nuclear weapons. While America’s President is concerned by the potential threat from North Korea and Iran, he indicated again that he wants to seek a diplomatic solution. Nuclear (adj) Using the energy of atomic nuclei ATW FACT Health conscious Americans are turning away from their favorite side dish. Sales of french fries are down 5%, the biggest decline in 15 years. Fries are a 20 billion dollar chunk of the 105 billion dollars Americans spend on fast food each year. Source: USA Today 9/22/03 INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… -Rebuilding Iraq continues to be a dangerous job… -Arafat stands firm… -and finally, Jupiter gets a much closer look at Galileo. #2— IRAQ Armed attacks against Americans continue daily in Iraq. On Monday, those attacks also included the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. The second bombing in 2 months of a U-N facility injured more than a dozen people. U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was shocked and distressed by the attack. He said the U-N will have to reassess its future presence in Iraq. Elsewhere, Aquila al-Hashimi continues to recover from an attempt on her life over the weekend. Al-Hashimi is one of the 25 Iraqis chosen by the U-S to serve on the Governing Council. The council is attempting to build a new government in Iraq as well as clearing the way for a new constitution and elections. While al-Hashimi had ties to the former government of Saddam Hussein, she had welcomed the chance to bring democracy to her country Constitution (n) system of fundamental laws that prescribes a government #3— ISRAEL Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat is staying right where he is. A wave of international criticism greeted Israel’s recent decision to remove Arafat from his headquarters. At the U-N, 133 nations voted for a resolution calling on Israel to retract any threats against Arafat. The U-S was one of just 4 countries to vote against the resolution. Both Arafat and incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia applauded the vote. Queria is trying to form a new cabinet before working for a cease-fire with Israel. The most radical Palestinian factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad refused his request to join the new government. Queria has stopped short of promising that he would disarm militant groups, a step that is required under the U-S backed “road map” for peace. Radical(adj) Carried to the utmost limit; extreme. #4— GALILEO 14 years of exploration came to an end on Sunday for the Galileo spacecraft. Researchers sent Galileo to Jupiter in 1989. After it arrived in 1995, the SUV-sized craft made a number of important discoveries about the biggest planet in our solar system. The most important may be that several of Jupiter’s moons have liquid saltwater oceans beneath their surfaces. That raises the possibility of extraterrestrial life there. That’s also why NASA sent Galileo crashing into Jupiter. Scientists didn’t want to risk contaminating potential pools of life with a crash of Galileo on one of the moons. On Jupiter, the spacecraft which was almost out of fuel, was likely torn apart or vaporized by the heat of its entry into the atmosphere. NASA is building a new generation of spacecraft that will be 100 times more sophisticated than Galileo. Jupiter(n) 5th planet from the sun, 318 times larger than Earth POP QUIZ #1 In our story about President Bush at the United Nations, what did the President want the U-N to do besides helping to rebuild Iraq? Remove Yassir Arafat Slow nuclear weapons Address global warming And the correct answer is number two…the President wants the United Nations to slow the spread of nuclear weapons. OLD CLUE #1— LATVIA EU VOTE And now it’s time for the answers to our clues in the news… There was an error in last week’s location clue. Instead of 24 Degrees, 06 minutes west longitude, it should have been east longitude. We regret our error. Go to that location and you find Riga, the capitol of Latvia. Latvia is a country in eastern Europe that has been independent of Russia since 1991. Voters there went to the polls Saturday to decide if Latvia would be the latest country to accept membership in the European Union. An overwhelming majority—nearly 70 per cent—voted in favor of joining the European Union. The vote came in the midst of some trouble for the Latvian government. Latvia First, one of the four political parties that governs that country, said it will withdraw from the ruling coalition after a dispute with the prime Minister. OLD CLUE #2—CAMP DAVID VISIT Fill in the blanks on our second clue and you had Camp David Visit. That’s where President Bush met with King Abdullah of Jordan. The two leaders discussed the many problems facing the Middle East. President Bush later used a joint news conference to criticize Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and to call for the Palestinian people to find a leader who would be committed to fighting terror. King Abdullah’s country may be one of the keys to peace in the region. Jordan has borders with both Iraq and Israel. OLD CLUE #3—HURRICANE And finally, unscramble our third clue and you found Hurricane Isabel. Even though Isabel had weakened as it approached land last Thursday, the hurricane’s winds and water caused damage that will be in the billions of dollars. Power was cut to 6 million homes and businesses from North Carolina to Delaware. 2 million of those were still without power after the weekend. 17 of the 30 deaths blamed on the storm happened in Virginia. It is one of four states that have been declared federal disaster areas. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… on September 25th 1981… Sandra Day O’Conner became the first woman on the United State Supreme Court. Ruth Bader Ginsberg joined her 12 years later. FEATURE INTRO Now we take you back to Niagara Falls for another look into one of natures most astonishing works of art, Check it Out! FEATURE Niagara Falls Part 2: Script (Wyatt) “Niagara Falls forms into two separate falls, one being what we call the American Falls the other being the Horseshoe Falls. The American Falls is the smaller of the two; it is 1,100 feet across and 176 feet high. The Horseshoe falls on the Canadian side is a bit shorter standing roughly 167 feet high—but it’s width is much larger stretching 2,500 feet across therefore producing a much higher volume of water than the falls on the American side.” (Maureen Curry; Environmental Education Assistant for New York State Parks) “90% of all the water in the river channel goes over the Canadian or Horse Shoe Falls and only 10% goes over the American Falls. Don’t forget we are draining four of the Great Lakes before it goes into the fifth lake, Lake Ontario. There is approximately 200,000 cubic feet per second of water coming out of Lake Erie going into the Niagara River. From the Niagara River 50% of that is drawn out for hydropower.” (Wyatt) “For hundreds of years Niagara Falls has attracted all kinds of people. Native American Indians were some of the first people to settle this land because of its abundance of food and extended growing season. In the early 1900’s the falls became the stage for daredevils who would climb inside large barrels and risk there lives going over the edge of Niagara Falls to put on a show for curious spectators. Of course man lives were lost in the process of taking this dangerous plunge. So what does this awesome tourist attraction have to offer?” (Ed Rutowski; Assistant Deputy, New York State Parks) “People should come here because this is probably one of the most scenic, most beautiful spots in the country, in fact in the world. Right behind me if you look down at the bottom of the base of the gorge you have the Crows Nest where your able to walk up a series of steps…your going to come as close as humanly possible without actually being under the falls. When people come here they are just awed by the entire experience. They can’t believe that they can interact with nature, walk out on Three Sisters Island, be in the middle of the river, be under the falls, be right next to the brink of the falls, you can then experience the power of the falls—It’s an exhilarating, awesome experience.” (Wyatt) “For ‘Assignment: The World’ I’m Wyatt Doremus.” ISN’T IT COOL! They call it gurning….and they’ve been doing it for over 700 years. Normally, being ugly isn’t something to celebrate. But in the English town of Egremont they’ve been screwing up their faces to make themselves look….well, terrible. Current world champion, Thomas Mattinson, says the art of ugliness is a practiced technique of transformation. One the natives of Egremont take very seriously. ISSUE How young is “too young” when it comes to cell phones? A research firm recently found that one third of kids aged 8 to 12 have cell phones. It’s a trend that alarms some adults. In Britain, the government warns against long term use of cell phones by young people. Researchers there say there may be serious health risks. Critics here say text messaging could also provide a means of cheating on school tests. But while still others say cell phones are an indication that young people’s lives are too complicated, some parents say cells do just the opposite. They argue that cells actually help organize hectic schedules, letting them contact equally busy parents and providing a measure of security. Most schools demand that cell phones be turned off but do allow them on campus. So, what you think… “Should there be an age limit on cell phones?” Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG CLOSE We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions… “Should there be an age limit on cell phones?” and “Should schools ban vending machine junk food?” 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 Galileo, what did we say was one of the spacecraft’s most important discoveries? Was it… Saltwater oceans Radiation belts Radio signals And the correct answer is number one… Galileo may have discovered saltwater oceans on several of Jupiter’s moons. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue is a fill-in the blanks… P__T__N M__E__I__G Our second clue is a location… 55 Degrees, 45 minutes north latitude 37 Degrees, 35 minutes east longitude And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter, it is two words… First word L L E C A R E E I O L C T N 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.