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	• NEWS >> ATW March 22, 2007 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of March 22nd, I’m Teej Jenkins. Our top story this week…the war in Iraq turns four. 1—IRAQ UPDATE IRAQ 33 DEGREES, 21 MINUTES NORTH 44 DEGREES, 25 MINUTES EAST The US and its coalition partners went to war against Iraq four years ago this week. Less than two months later, President Bush announced that major combat operations had ended and that the mission was accomplished. On Monday, President Bush acknowledged that while much has been accomplished, there is still much to do. He said that pulling American troops out too soon would lead to a contagion of violence that could engulf the entire Mideast region. Democrats in Congress are demanding faster progress and some are pushing for a troop withdrawal deadline of September of next year. And the Pentagon last week released a report that says some of the escalating violence in Iraq can best be described as civil war. The Bush administration has been reluctant to use that term but the new report echoes another intelligence assessment released last month. Contagion (n) a harmful or corrupting influence ATW Fact The area known as Palestine has been defined in different ways over the past 3000 years but it lies roughly between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The term comes from the word Philistine, the name of a non-semitic ethnic group that lived where the Gaza Strip is today. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… ---another step toward peace with North Korea... ---Iran's controversial president wants to talk to the UN... ---and Palestinians are cautiously optimistic over their new government. #2—PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT ISRAEL 31 DEGREES, 46 MINUTES NORTH 35 DEGREES, 14 MINUTES EAST Thousands of Palestinians welcomed the news of a new Palestine unity government. After months of often deadly fighting between the rival Fatah and Hamas factions, the new government was officially sworn in and met over the weekend. Norway became the first nation to recognize the ruling coalition and while Palestinians hope other western nations will follow suit, Israel says it will not. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Hamas continues to fall short of explicitly recognizing Israel's right to exist. He said Hamas has also failed to renounce violence, a condition many western nations insisted on when they began freezing Palestinian assets and aid a year ago. Suit (n) to do as another has done, follow an example #3—NORTH KOREA TALKS HONG KONG 22 DEGREES, 17 MINUTES NORTH 114 DEGREES, 09 MINUTES EAST The US and North Korea have taken another step toward a peaceful end to North Korea's nuclear program. The two countries resolved a dispute over 25-million dollars of North Korean money that had been frozen by the US. That money will now be released and North Korea has pledged to use it for humanitarian and educational purposes. US envoy Christopher Hill said the agreement will help negotiations move on to the next problem of which there are many. The US and North Korea are two of the six nations involved in talks aimed at shutting down North Korea's nuclear facilities by mid-April. A disarmament agreement reached last month gave North Korea 60 days to close its main reactor and a plutonium processing plant. In return, it would get energy and economic assistance and wider diplomatic recognition. Humanitarian (adj) concerned with human welfare #4— —AHMADINEJAD REQUEST IRAN 35 DEGREES, 40 MINUTES NORTH 51 DEGREES, 26 MINUTES EAST Iran's president made a surprise request for permission to speak to the United Nation's Security Council. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly wants to make his nation's case for pursuing nuclear power before the Security Council begins its debate on new sanctions against Iran. Iran continues to insist that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and aimed only at producing energy. The US is among many western nations that are concerned about Iran being able to make a nuclear weapon. Acting US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said its ironic that Ahmadinejad would want to speak at the U-N. Iran's president has been quoted as saying that he has no respect for the Security Council. Sanctions (n) penalties acting to ensure adherence to international law POP QUIZ #1 In our story about Iraq, when did we tell you some Congressional Democrats want all US troops to withdraw? Is it September 2007 September 2008 September 2009 And the answer is number 2. Some Congressional Democrats are pushing for total troop withdrawal by September of next year. OLD CLUE # 1—AHERN VISIT Time now for answers to last week’s Clues in the News. Our first clue was the location of Dublin, Ireland. That's where Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern traveled from to come to the United States late last week. Ahern made several stops in New York City including the site of the former World Trade Center. While his traditional trip just before St. Patrick's Day had its light moments, Ahern spoke with President Bush about a variety of issues. Among those: Ahern hopes the president will grant US residency to 50-thousand Irish citizens who are currently living illegally in the U-S. OLD CLUE # 2— AMBASSADOR HEARINGS Unscramble our second clue and you got Ambassador hearings. Zalmay Khalilzad is President Bush's choice to succeed John Bolton as the US ambassador to the United Nations. Khalilzad was born in Afghanistan but is now a US citizen. He has served in the administrations of four presidents and most recently served as ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq. In his remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which must confirm him, Khalilzad said he'll work to make the UN more effective. OLD CLUE # 3—ANTI WAR RALLY And finally, fill in the blanks on our third clue and you got anti-war rally. The fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq prompted thousands of protesters to take to the streets of several cities across the US. In New York City, more than one thousand protesters converged on a park near the United Nations. Thousands gathered in San Francisco for a largely peaceful march that shut down a major downtown street. They were met by a much smaller gathering of counter-protesters waving flags to show that they support American troops. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… March 24th, 1989, a supertanker, The Exxon Valdez, strikes a reef in Prince William Sound off of Alaska. More than 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the ocean. It would take 4 years to clean up and the effects of the spill are still being felt today. ATW FEATURE Have you ever heard of anyone growing something with out dirt? Katie Sullivan heard about an interesting place that is doing just that. She went to Ithaca, New York to learn more about hydroponics. Check it out. ATW FEATURE (Katie) The Northeast is known for its cold winters, and in most cases, the elements make farming in this region a seasonal opportunity. But when most farmer's fields are barren, the lettuce at Finger Lakes Fresh in Ithaca NY is in full bloom. They grow their crops year round in their greenhouse using what is known as hydroponics. (Dr. Albright) Basically, if you take the technical meaning, its growing plants without natural soil. So anything around the roots could be hydroponics. (Katie) This means all the crops are grown without soil, but there’s more to it than that. (Bob) Basically, we're controlling the environment so that the plants think everyday is the same. So we have a lot of computer and mechanical equipment that we work with so that the environment that the plant has in here is the same temperature, same amount of light, same ratio of minerals etc. everyday of the year. (Katie) Controlling the environment makes for a very efficient process.. (Patrick) What they did is they developed a way to grow lettuce that from the day it’s seeded to the day its harvested takes 31 days. In the greenhouse business if it’s growing in dirt it would be much longer. (Dr. Albright) The plants float in styrofoam panels and they’re floating on about 11 inches of nutrient solution,. They're put on one end of a floating pond like this, pushed down to the other end and as they're pushed, they grow, they reach the far end and they're crowded enough that they begin to shade each other so they have to be spread apart, so they’re re-spaced, put in the other three ponds, other three channels, canals whatever you want to call them. Then they get pushed down to this end where they get harvested. (Katie) This efficiency allows Finger Lakes Fresh to grow more crops in the same amount of space so its impact on the Earth is small. Also since they have no heavy farm equipment and the produce is grown and distributed locally, they don't burn a lot of fossil fuels which cuts down greatly on harmful emissions and greenhouse gases. ISN’T IT COOL LONGEST CAVE A pair of cave divers claim they found the world’s longest underwater cave system. The two underwater explorers found flooded underground passages connecting two previously know cave systems in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. The cave divers say their find proves a connection that measures 95 miles in length. The National Speleological Society confirmed the discovery. ISSUE The US Supreme Court heard a case this week that may further define how far schools can limit the free speech of students. Several earlier cases established the authority of school officials to ban vulgar or offensive student speech and to control student newspapers. Articles of clothing, posters and other materials may also be banned if they are “inconsistent with a school's basic educational mission.”. Without such limits, schools say they would not be able to maintain discipline. But a coalition of groups argue that the First Amendment guarantees the rights of free speech to all Americans. They cite cases of students who wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, an act the Supreme Court said did not interfere with a school's mission. Others argue that schools have too much power in defining what is offensive and that these things might be a valid example of free speech. So, what do you think? Should schools control free speech? Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received nearly five hundred responses to our issue question, “Should Pizza Hut end its reading program?” The majority of you 83 percent say no, Pizza Hut should not end its reading program. 12 percent think it would be a good idea to end the program. 5 percent are undecided. Some of you feel its time for Pizza Hut to end its reading program… many fear it develops bad eating habits. Brittany T. of Mequon, Wisconsin writes, “It makes them think every time they read a book, they get a pizza. They may be trying to do something nice, but it really doesn’t help.” Hannah H. of Ticonderoga, New York adds, “People shouldn’t be encouraged to read (with) food. The inspiration that books create should be enough.” The majority of you, however, like Pizza Hut’s reading campaign. Tori Beth B. of Henrietta, New York writes, “Kids look forward to (a reward) after they have done something good.” Connor T. of Papillion, Nebraska agrees and writes, “It makes kids happy when they reach a goal. They deserve a reward for their hard work.” Rachel C. of Hamlin, New York adds, “It inspires kids to read! If (you) have a reason, like a reward, you will want to read more often.” Deanna K. of Appleton, Wisconsin feels the program builds good habits. Deanna writes, “In the future, they may learn to love reading without pizza.” And finally, Elizabeth R. of Winchester, Virginia reminds us that you have to read a lot to get just one pizza. Elizabeth writes, “Kids get rewarded by eating pizza (just) once a month for reading every day!” We look forward to your responses to our two latest questions: “Should Native American mascots and team names be retired?” and Should schools control free speech? We’ll put some of the more thought provoking letters and e-mails on the air. 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 new Palestinian government, which nation did we tell you was the first to offer recognition? Was it Norway Denmark Sweden And the correct answer is number 1. Norway was the first to recognize the new unity government. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 18 Degrees, 7 minutes north latitude 15 Degrees, 57 minutes west longitude Our second clue is a newsmaker: SIR JOHN HOLMES And finally, our third clue is a fill in the blanks, two words First word B blank R L blank N Second word S blank M blank I T 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 Teej Jenkins. We’ll see you again next week. © 2007 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.