• NEWS >> ATW October
21, 2004
Yearly
Script Program Index
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OPEN/WELCOME
Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of October 21st,
2004. I’m Elissa Orlando.
In our top story this week…the major political parties work to
get out the vote while voting is already underway.
1—PRES. CAMPAIGN
Senator John Kerry and President
George Bush continue to campaign in states where key Electoral College
votes are still undecided. Senator Kerry pressed hard on domestic issues
including health care. He blamed the President for not being better
prepared to meet the huge shortage of flu vaccines. The President spent
his time charging Senator Kerry with being unable or unwilling to properly
fight the war on terror. Its unclear who is making the better connection
with undecided voters. A USA Today poll indicated the President had
an 8 point lead while a Reuters-Zogby poll showed the two major candidates
in a statistical dead heat. Meanwhile, voters have already cast their
ballots in Florida and overseas. US citizens in Israel were able to
vote Sunday. Florida offered early voting on Monday partly to answer
concerns over new voting machines and partly to ease what is expected
to be a heavy turnout for this year’s elections.
Connection (n) an association or relationship.
ATW FACT
The area we now know as Iraq is the site of some of the most ancient
civilizations on Earth. Mesopotamia,
Samaria, and Babylon can all be traced there. The modern
country was carved out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire after
World War I.
INTRO REST OF THE NEWS
In the rest of the news this week…
-a deadly alliance is announced in Iraq…
-a space accident is narrowly avoided..
-and a gas prices continue to set new records.
#2—IRAQ UPDATE
The most wanted man in Iraq has pledged his loyalty to the most wanted
man in the world. Militant leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi has claimed responsibility
for a number of bombings and the deaths of several civilian hostages.
Al Zarqawi posted an internet message earlier this week saying he was
uniting with Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Zarqawi is reportedly
operating out of the Iraqi city of Fallujah. That’s one of several
reasons for repeated American air and tank strikes against Fallujah.
Elsewhere in Iraq, the investigation continues into what might be considered
a mutiny. Members of the 13th Corps Support Command refused orders to
deliver supplies along a dangerous route. They said the fuel they were
to deliver was contaminated and the vehicles they were to use were unsafe
and barely working. While Army officials say the reservists had valid
concerns, the soldiers could face criminal charges.
Mutiny (n) open rebellion against constituted authority
#3—SPACE ACCIDENT
A new crew will soon be in charge at the International
Space Station. While changing crews there has become fairly routine,
the arrival of the latest team was anything but. 49 hours after blasting
off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Two Russians and an
American were nearing the space station. Their Soyuz spacecraft approached
so quickly that danger signals were activated. Though no one in the
crew has previous experience in space, the new astronauts were able
to pilot the craft into its proper docking area. Scientists are now
trying to figure out why the incident occurred. The spacecraft will
be put back into service on Sunday when Russian Gennady Padalka and
American Mike Fincke return to Earth after six months on the space station.
Previous adj) existing or occurring prior to something else in time
or order
#4— —GAS PRICES
How much higher can gas prices go? America’s Federal Reserve Chairman
doesn’t have any predictions but Alan Greenspan does say that those
prices will soon have a serious effect on our economy. Monday’s
jump to more than 55-dollars a barrel was yet another new record. Analysts
say that an early cold snap in the northeastern US could send prices
to above 60-dollars a barrel. Gas prices at the pump at up more than
5 cents a gallon. West coast drivers are already paying more than two
dollars and twenty four cents per gallon. Home heating oil is also affected.
The continuing price jump can be traced to worries over problems in
Iraq, Mexico, Venezuela and several other oil producing countries.
Pump (n) machine or device for transferring gas from a container through
pipes to another container
POP QUIZ #1
In our story about the presidential campaign, what US state was the
first to offer early voting? Was it
1. Ohio
2. Colorado
3. Florida
And the answer is number 3. Early voting in this year’s Presidential
election began Monday in Florida.
OLD CLUE #1—KHARTOUM, SUDAN
Its time now for the answers to our Clues in the News.
Our first clue was the location of Khartoum, the capitol of Sudan.
The Darfur region of Sudan is the site of what the United Nations calls
the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Sudan’s president joined
the leaders of Egypt, Chad and Nigeria Sunday in the capital of Libya
to discuss the growing crisis. Tens of thousands of people have died
and more than a million people have been forced from their homes since
early 2003. The meeting of leaders ended Monday with a call for no outside
intervention into what they called a purely African question.
OLD CLUE #2—RAMADAN
Unscramble our second clue and you got Ramadan. The next month is the
holiest time on the year for the world’s 1-billion Muslims. Ramadan
commemorates the time of God’s revelation of the Quran, the holy
book of Islam, to the prophet Muhammad roughly 14-hundred years ago.
Religious leaders across the world urged fellow Muslims to spend the
time during Ramadan in prayer and to focus on repentance and charity.
They are also hoping that extremists will not repeat the violence of
recent years. Terrorists have marked the beginning of Ramadan with attacks
in several countries.
OLD CLUE #3—MT. ST. HELENS
And finally, fill in the blanks on our third clue and you got Mt. St.
Helens. Scientists say the lava dome inside the Washington State volcano
is continuing to grow. The mountain has been rumbling for weeks though
experts do not expect an eruption anywhere near the historic explosion
that changed Mt. St. Helens in 1980. On May 18th of that year, the top
of the mountain disappeared, leaving a cloud of ash thousands of feet
into the air and 230 square miles of surrounding forest devastated.
THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY
This week in world history…October 21st, 1520, Ferdinand
Magellan sailed through the sea passage that would eventually bear
his name. The Straits of Magellan are an important but dangerous link
between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at the southernmost tip of South
America.
FEATURE
ATW FEATURE
TV WEATHER
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to become a television
weather forecaster? We checked back into the ATW archives to revisit
one forecaster who loves his job. Check it out!
ATW FEATURE
TV WEATHER
My name is Scott Hetsko,
I'm the chief meteorologist here at Channel 8, WROC in Rochester, New
York. A meteorologist is someone who studies weather, whether it be
weather forecasting or just the phenomena of weather and what it can
bring.
Actually, right now, what we are doing is preparing a forecast for
our show tonight here in the city and right now I am doing the basic
stuff, analyzing the satellite and radar images, I'm looking at temperatures,
looking at pressure... all these things that are important to put a
weather forecast together.
This is really the second part of my day, every day. I move over here
and start making graphics for television. This is the one where I make
all my maps, where we see the highs in pressures and the fronts, the
five day forecasts, the tonight forecasts. All these things that we
use are made right here.
This is where it all happens. This is where the magic of television
comes to life. Behind me is the big, green monster called the chromo
key wall. So we have that, we put the graphics that we made earlier
on the TV and then we have this little clicker that advances the maps
that you will see over here in a second. When I'm doing the weather
tonight you will see on television me over the graphic and what I see
when I look at the television is me over the graphic...so I'm watching
me do the stuff.
If a kid was interested in meteorology,
I would suggest just reading some books about general weather knowledge.
They should focus on that, physics and if you love that stuff and you
love weather like crazy like I do then it will be a fun passion for
you and it won't be work.
Thanks for watching.
ISN’T IT COOL
GIFT CAMELS
They are a gift from the King of Morocco.
Mohammed VI has donated twenty camels to an area of Peru that has a
strong similarity to his own country. The King hopes to improve tourism
in the Huacachina Lagoon located in the province of Ica. Huacachina
is a warm oasis-type of land where palm trees grow in a sanded natural
habitat of dune.
Four of the animals were transported by Morocco’s national air
force at a cost of $200,000. (U.S. dollars)
Sixteen more are due to arrive in the next six months.
ISSUE
As we told you earlier, the prices Americans pay to drive their cars
and heat their homes are rising to new records every week. Oil producers
and the Bush administration argue that America must become less reliant
on foreign oil. They say part of the answer to that is to drill for
the 16 billion barrels of oil that may lie below the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. Proponents say technology has improved to limit the
damage caused by accidents or spills and to extract as much oil as possible.
They say the benefit to the nation’s economy would be in the billions
of dollars. But conservationists dispute such claims, saying the US
Geologic Survey estimates a far lower figure of possible undiscovered
oil. They say it would take ten years for the small amount to get to
consumers, years that would destroy or forever change a delicate environment
and dozens of bird and animal species. They say Americans would be better
of spending money to research alternatives to gas and oil. So, what
do you think? “Should
the US open the Arctic Refuge to Oil Drilling? 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
schools have mandatory health clubs?” The majority of you…
fifty two percent say no, mandatory health clubs are not needed. Thirty
nine percent feel they might be a good idea. Nine percent are undecided.
Many of you feel there is a real problem of obesity in our country and
that a health club might help that problem.
Becky of DePere, Wisconsin likes the idea of a health club in school.
Becky writes, “Kids that are overweight are at (a) greater risk
for many health problems.”
Lindsey M. of Loudonville, New York adds, “Health clubs would be
fun, educational and something for everyone in our community. We all
need to be more conscious of what is healthy.”
Kyle S. of Mequon (Mek-won), Wisconsin agrees and writes, “It would
promote a healthier lifestyle and get more kids active.”
The majority of you, however, expressed concern about singling out kids
who might be overweight.
Kaitlin F. of Grand Rapids, Michigan writes, “… picking only
the overweight kids to attend…is calling them fat in front of the
whole school. (It) lowers their self-esteem.”
Damian M. of Sioux City, Iowa adds, “Many times they are overweight
because of genetics. They shouldn’t be pushed to go to clubs to
slim down.”
Matt K. of King Ferry, New York thinks it shouldn’t be up to the
schools. Matt writes, “It is not the school’s responsibility
to make sure that students are healthy and fit.”
And finally, Maikou Y. of Madison, Wisconsin writes, “It’s
our body! If we want to change it we can exercise by our selves.”
We look forward to receiving your responses to our issue questions:
“Who would be your choice
for President?” and “Should
the US open the Arctic Refuge to Oil Drilling? ” 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 International Space Station, what was the problem
that sparked a danger signal? Was it the Soyuz spacecraft
Approached too fast
Approached too slow
Approached from the wrong direction
And the correct answer is number one. Alarms went off because the spacecraft
was approaching the space station too fast.
NEW CLUES
And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news…
Our first clue a location…
42 Degrees, 39 minutes north latitude
21 Degrees, 10 minutes east longitude
Our second clue is a scrambled letter, two words:
ASIUNIT NIECELOST
And finally, our third clue is a fill in the blanks, three words:
UN__TE__ N__T__ __ N__ DA__
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.
© 2004 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World.
All Rights Reserved.
