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	• NEWS >> ATW March 24, 2005 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of March 24th, 2005. I’m Elissa Orlando. In our top story this week… the Secretary of State puts new pressures on North Korea. 1—CONDI GOES EAST U-S Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice ended her weeklong tour of Asian capitals in China. Rice hopes China will push its trading partner and military ally, North Korea, to resume talks on ending its nuclear weapons program. She said the U-S has no intentions of invading North Korea but insists negotiations can only take place between all of the nations concerned. That would also include South Korea, Japan and Russia. Rice also spent time in China trying to ease tensions between that country and Taiwan. China’s recently passed anti-secession law was criticized by Taiwan as the first step toward attacking that island nation. Taiwan split apart from the mainland after a civil war. China continues to insist that Taiwan is Chinese territory. The U-S has also criticized the anti-secession law. Rice asked European leaders not to resume selling arms to China, saying it could worsen an already tense situation between China and Taiwan. Rice’s trip wasn’t all about work. She visited with some Chinese ice skaters, a sport the Secretary follows closely. Rice told the skaters they were much better than she had been at their age. 3/21 Secession (n) withdrawal from formal membership in an organization or alliance ATW Fact Franklin Delano Roosevelt coined the term United Nations in January of 1942. The organization now called that formally came into being with 51 members in October of 1945. There are now nearly 200 member nations. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… -- Sweeping changes may be ahead for the U-N… -- There’s more shaking going on in Japan… -- and Europe has a common world vision with Russia. #2—UN OVERHAUL U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan calls them the most far reaching reforms in the history of the United Nations. Annan released a report to all 191 members nations on Sunday. It calls for the U-N to change in order to meet the challenges of war and terrorism, hunger and poverty and to encourage human rights. While his chief of staff says its likely that different countries would like and dislike different proposals, he says Annan wants all of his proposed changes adopted and not a la carte. Among the more controversial proposals is to change the 15 member Security Council into a larger, more representative body. Another change would be in the establishment of a Human Rights Council that would prevent countries with poor records on human rights from protecting each other. Annan’s report comes six months before world leaders are expected to take any formal action on the changes. Annan has scheduled a summit at U-N headquarters for September. He has asked the world leaders who will read the report to focus on its positive aspects A la carte (adv/adj) with a separate price for each item on the menu #3—JAPAN QUAKE 5 months after a powerful quake killed 40 people, an even more powerful earthquake shook southern Japan Sunday. At least one person is dead and hundreds were wounded when the quake began below the seabed off of a Japanese island. The epicenter of the earthquake on Genkai Island was where the worst damage could be found. The shaking touched off landslides that leveled homes. Japanese troops helped to evacuate nearly half of the island’s residents. Injuries were reported elsewhere in southern Japan but preventative measures helped minimize the damage. Japan is located in the so called Ring of Fire, an area of the Pacific Ocean that is particularly prone to earthquakes. 3/20 Epicenter (n) focal point, part of the earth’s surface directly over the origin of an earthquake #4— —PUTIN MEETING The leaders of Europe and Russia say they are in agreement on a number of the most important issues facing the world. The leaders of France, Germany and Spain met with Russian President Vladimir Putin late last week. The meeting ended with a joint resolution to push for Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon. Despite U-S fears, the leaders also said they do not think that Russia’s nuclear fuel agreement with Iran will lead to that country having nuclear weapons. The meeting was held to pave the way toward a larger summit between the European Union and Russia scheduled for early May. Resolution (n) a formal statement of a decision POP QUIZ #1 In our story about China, we told you Secretary Rice insists talks with North Korea must include Japan, South Korea and 1. Indonesia 2. Taiwan 3. Russia And the answer is number 3. For talks to resume, Rice says Russia must be one of six nations involved. OLD CLUE #1—RICE TRIP It's time now for the answers to our Clues in the News. Our first clue was the location of Tokyo, Japan. That was the fourth of 6 stops on a trip taken by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to south and east Asia. Rice spent part of her two days there supporting Japan’s bid to become the newest member of the U-N Security Council. She said such an addition would be welcome for all of Asia. Rice also pushed for Japan to end its 15 month ban on the importation of beef from the United States. Japan established the ban in December of 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was found in US beef. Japanese officials refused to set a timetable for an end to the ban. OLD CLUE #2—BOOK AWARDS Fill in the blanks on our second clue and you got Book Awards. The National Book Critics Circle announced on Friday its choices for the best English language books of the past year. Gilead, written by Marilynne Robinson, took top honors as the best work of fiction. Diarmaid MacCulloch’s “The Reformation: A History” won for best non-fiction. Patrick Neate’s look at the world of hip-hop won in the category of best criticism. The National Book Critics Circle was founded in 1974 and is comprised of 600 book editors and critics. Its annual awards are considered among the most prestigious but do not come with any cash or other considerations. OLD CLUE #3—STEROIDS HEARING And finally, unscramble our third clue and you got Steroids Hearing. Congress called 10 baseball players and executives to a hearing last week. The House committee investigating the use of steroids in baseball was prompted in part by charges made in a book by former player Jose Canseco. While Canseco has openly admitted that he took performance enhancing drugs, other current and former players either denied steroid use or refused to answer. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig told the committee that his sport is taking steps to address what he called a problem that has been blown out of proportion. This will be the first year that Major League Baseball will have any penalties for steroid use. Many critics say those penalties are too little and too late. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… March 25th, 1911, 146 men and woman died in what would become known as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The disaster in New York City would eventually lead to important improvements in safety and working conditions in factories across the nation. ATW FEATURE FEATURE We went back into our ATW Archives and found out that chemistry can be fun! A group of traveling chemists put on a show at the Rochester Museum and Science Center to teach kids how to “cook with chemistry”…Check it Out! (Wyatt) Would you believe these experiments use these common household products? They contain the chemicals necessary to create dazzling experiments at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. Russ Giacofei leads the "Cooking with Chemistry" program, teaching us that we all could be chemists. (Giacofei) WE come from Kodak. We do analytical chemistry at Kodak and occasionally they let us escape from our normal duties and show kids some of the more fun chemical reactions that can take place in chemistry. (Wyatt) Giacofei shows us how chemistry is involved in may aspects of our lives. (Giacofei) Everything in life involves chemistry. There are hundreds and hundreds of chemical reactions going on inside your body that is keeping you alive. Everything you see in this auditorium requires chemistry to make them. The polymers, the fabrics, everything is chemistry going around them. We try to give them a flavor for all those little everyday things we take for granted. (Wyatt) For example, did you know that a super-absorbency diaper can hold up to 800 times its weight in water? It’s all because of this chemical, sodium polyacrylem and how would you like to create your very own volcano? You can, using things you probably find in your kitchen. All you will need is food coloring, vinegar, dish soap and baking soda. The elements in these products react with each other to produce this volcanic lava. (Giacofei) What I would like the kids to get out of this, is the belief that this is fun, chemistry can be fun. Every kid should come away with this is fun, I can do that. (Wyatt) Giacofei encourages everyone to consider chemistry as a profession. (Giacofei) If they really decide they like science after seeing this demonstration, what I would emphasis for them is to stay in school, work as hard as you can because there is a payoff if you do that. (Wyatt) For ATW, I'm Wyatt Doremus. ISN’T IT COOL SHARKS Migrating sharks have been causing alarm in South Florida. Large groups of sharks have been spotted in the waters off of Delray Beach, forcing lifeguards to close the beaches. Experts say the spinner and black tip sharks showup every March and April before heading north for the summer. They say sharks usually don’t bother humans. No injuries have been reported. ISSUE The steroid hearings in Congress were also the latest example of athletes being called on to act in responsible ways or as role models. Baseball, basketball and football players who are often in the spotlight are usually at the top of the lists of Most Admired by the nation’s children. Ideally, the grace, skill, focus, and dedication to seek perfection make the best athletes into examples of what we should all try to become. Congressmen, among many, argue that athletes have a responsibility to live model lives both on and off athletic fields. Those who don’t serve as unfortunate examples of how bad behavior pays or is otherwise rewarded. But others, including former NBA star Charles Barkley, argue that athletes are not and should not be role models. He and others say that the ability to hit a ball farther or run faster doesn’t automatically mean that athlete is also a good person. Athletes who get paid millions of dollars for playing games are not usual, ordinary people. Barkley says police, firefighters, teachers and parents are among the many other more proper, more likely role models. Well, we would like to know what you think? “Are athletes role models?” Discuss this issue with your classmates, friends and family and write to let us know your opinions. MAILBAG We received nearly eight hundred responses to our issue question, “Should violent video games be banned?” The majority of you, sixty eight percent say no, the video games should not be banned. Twenty six percent say yes, they should. Six percent are undecided. Many of you feel that violent video games can be a bad influence on young people and need to be regulated. Ben H. of Stoughton, Wisconsin writes, “Little kids see older brothers and sisters’ having fun killing people on video games so they think it is okay to do the violent things in video games.” Kristen B. of Crimora, Virginia agrees and adds, “There is not one reason why children should play games with gore and profanity and call it fun!” Elizabeth C. of Long Valley, New Jersey writes, “(They) give young people the wrong impression. A game like Grand Theft Auto rewards the player for killing people and doesn’t give punishment for stealing. It makes young people want to be gangsters.” The majority of you, however, feel these games are harmless. Robert G. of Rochester, New York writes, “It is a person’s choice. No real harm comes from the games. It is the parents’ responsibility to make sure (their kids) know right from wrong.” Kasia M. of Oneonta, New York doesn’t think banning violent games would solve anything. Kasia writes, “If violent video games are banned they will still see violence on TV and hear about it from other sources.” And finally, David H. of Winchester, Virginia doesn’t think violent video games are any kind of problem. David writes, “Banning video games wouldn’t reduce murders. Psychopaths would something else to blame their crimes on. “ We look forward to receiving your responses to our issue questions: “Will a woman be president in your lifetime?” and “Are athletes role models?” 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 United Nations, how many nations did we tell you that organization now has? Is it 1. 91 2. 191 3. 291 And the correct answer is number two. The U-N has 191 member nations. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 38 Degrees, 38 minutes north latitude 68 Degrees, 51 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a fill in the blanks, three words: HU__A__ R__G__TS M__E__IN__ And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter, two words: DRLOW PIXIESNOOT 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 Orlando. We’ll see you next week. © 2005 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.