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	• NEWS >> ATW October 19, 2006 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of October 19th, I’m Teej Jenkins. Our top story this week…The U-N sends a unanimous message to North Korea. 1—NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS NORTH KOREA 39 DEGREES 17 MINUTES NORTH 126 DEGREES, 26 MINUTES EAST The U-N’s Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose sanctions on North Korea. The vote came in response to North Korea’s announced test of a nuclear weapon, an action the U-N called “a clear threat to international peace and security.” The resolution calls for bans on the import and export of certain materials, a freeze of assets, travel restrictions and a demand that North Korea return to six-party talks aimed at dismantling that country’s nuclear weapons program. The vote included China and Russia, both of which are longtime allies of North Korea. China in particular said it was firmly opposed to the nuclear test. North Korea’s ambassador to the U-N walked out of the council chamber after accusing its members of a gangster-like action. He said the United Nations continues to ignore the nuclear threat posed by the United States toward his nation. Assets (n) useful or valuable quantities or things ATW Fact The strongest earthquake of the past 50 years happened off the coast of Chile in 1960. Registering 9.5 on the Richter Scale, it caused a tsunami that would kill hundreds in Japan, more than 8,000 miles away. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… --a strong quake shakes Hawaii… --Hamas refuses change amid an upswing in violence… --and the U-N chooses a new leader. #2—NEW UN SECRETARY GENERAL UNITED STATES 40 DEGREES, 43 MINUTES NORTH 74 DEGREES, 00 MINUTES WEST Ban Ki-Moon says he will approach his new job with what he calls “Asian modesty.” That new job is Secretary General of the United Nations. Late last week, the General Assembly adopted a resolution appointing the South Korean Foreign Minister as the successor to Kofi Annan. Ban says he resolved to become a diplomat after meeting President John f. Kennedy in the early 1960s. He will become the 8th secretary general in the U-N’s 60-year history. When he takes office on January first of 2007, he will oversee an organization that currently has 92-thousand peacekeepers around the world and an annual budget of 5-billion dollars. Diplomat (n) one skilled in art or practice of international relations #3—HAWAII QUAKE UNITED STATES 19 DEGREES, 25 MINUTES NORTH 155 DEGREES, 55 MINUTES WEST Residents of Hawaii woke up Sunday morning to find televisions and other household items flying. An earthquake measuring 6.6 magnitude was followed just seven minutes later by a quake measuring 5.8. Over the next seven hours, 53 aftershocks were felt. Power was cut to a number of homes and businesses, several roads were closed by debris, and dozens of people suffered minor injuries. The quakes did not cause a Pacific-wide tsunami but did cause increased wave activity. While Hawaii’s governor issued a state-wide disaster declaration, most schools were open Monday morning and much of the power had been restored. This was the strongest earthquake to strike Hawaii in more than 20 years. Tsunami (n) very large ocean wave caused by underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption #4— —ISRAEL UPDATE ISRAEL 31 DEGREES, 46 MINUTES NORTH 35 DEGREES, 14 MINUTES EAST Palestinians are apparently no closer to forming a national unity government. Hamas’ political leader, Khaled Mashaal says his group will not recognize Israel but added that Hamas is still interested in joining with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ rival Fatah faction. Abbas is in favor of recognizing Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Elsewhere, Palestinian gunmen were the target of Israeli warplanes over the weekend. Missiles killed six and wounded 15 others. The Israeli military says its actions were in response to an anti-tank missile that was fired at an Israeli bulldozer. Faction (n) group of persons forming a cohesive minority within a larger group POP QUIZ #1 In our story about the new U-N Secretary General, what country did we tell you he is from? Is it 1. North Korea 2. South Korea 3. Japan And the answer is number 2. Ban Ki-Moon is the foreign minister of South Korea. OLD CLUE # 1—ECUADOR ELECTIONS Time now for answers to last week’s Clues in the News. Our first clue was the location of Quito, the capitol of Ecuador. Voters in that country were evenly split between banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa and economist Rafael Correa. The candidates for president will face a runoff election at the end of November. Noboa is the richest man in Ecuador while Correa is a left-wing ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Whoever wins in November may not have an easy time. Ecuadoreans have driven their last three presidents from office and only three have served a full term since 1979. OLD CLUE # 2— IRAQ CONSTITUTION ANNIVERSARY Unscramble our second clue and you got Iraq Constitution anniversary. A national reconciliation conference that had been timed to coincide with the year anniversary of Iraq’s constitution has been called off indefinitely. While government spokesmen would only say that the postponement was caused by emergency reasons, a fresh wave of violence has struck Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. Much of that is caused by the political and religious differences that deeply divide that country. OLD CLUE # 3—PEACE PRIZE And finally, fill in the blanks on our third clue and you got Peace Prize. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded late last week to Muhammed Yunis and the bank he founded in Bangladesh. The two are credited with helping millions of poor Bangladeshis, many of them women, by providing small loans to start businesses. Yunis specializes in so called microcredit or loans that are too small to be considered by most conventional banks. In addition to its prestige, the Nobel Peace Prize also comes with a 1-point-4 million dollar award which Yunis and the bank will share. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… October 19h, 1864, 20 Confederate cavalrymen crossed from Canada into the small town of St. Albans, Vermont. Their raid, which was essentially the robbing of 3 banks, was still the northernmost action of the American Civil War. ATW FEATURE The beaver is a nocturnal animal, meaning it only comes out at night, which is kind of odd because the land they inhabit is really beautiful during the day! Beki Gibney goes to the Beaver Pond check it out! ATW FEATURE (Beki) I didn’t get to see any beaver today because apparently they were all nestled up in their damns fast asleep, but I did however get to take a look around the neighborhood they live in, and see who they share their land with! (Bob) The plants that we have here at the pond, we have emergent plants which would be a cattail, they emerge from roots that grow under the mud. Then we have submergent plants, which are coontail, milfoil, and plants that are going underwater. And then we have the floating plants and those include the fragrant water lily that are in flower right now. Once a pond is developed by beaver it becomes an absolute Mecca for amphibians, the frogs, the toads, the salamanders, fish and then as soon as those animals start invading the water, you get insects, you get birds that eat insects birds that eat fish birds that eat tad polls. We’ve seen some huge tad polls here b/c the bull frogs that are here have a life expectancy of up to 20 years and the polly wogs take two years to mature just as a polly wog, so they get absolutely enormous, and we've seen some swimming around in the pond itself and they are developing legs so they are in their second year of growth and they'll come out as the adult frog. We often see great blue heron, they eat tad polls and small minos so we've got just a huge number of things that are attracted to water. That's one of the neat things about have a beaver pond, everything is attracted to water. Deer will come down and drink during evening hours, bats will come out and eat the insects, it's fun observing the beaver or trying to observe the beaver, which are nocturnal or mostly nocturnal. (Beki) Who would have thought a pond could be so interesting? For Assignment: the World, I’m Beki Gibney ISN’T IT COOL MEXICO DISCOVERY It may be the largest archeological find in Mexico City’s history! Archeologists announced the discovery of a monolith near Mexico City’s main square. The newest discovery is rectangular and measures just over 3 meters on its longest side. Preliminary estimates have it weighing over 12 tons. Experts say it may be the most important archeological find in nearly 30 years. ISSUE At least 90 per cent of American children between the ages of 5 and 17 use a computer. As their typing skills improve, their writing or longhand skills are declining. Most primary grade teachers spend 10 minutes a day or less on penmanship. Some schools say it is a struggle to fit that in between teaching technology, foreign languages and other subjects. Others say our culture is now at a crossroads where we will permanently turn from the written word to the typed one. They say students need only learn how to block print. But other academics say research indicates that students who have good penmanship skills produce longer, more complex compositions from the earliest grades. At one Maryland school, first graders who were given 15 minutes of instruction 3 times a week dramatically increased sentence construction skills, writing speed and complexity of thought. And beyond that, many people mourn the loss of a handwritten letter. They say there is a beauty and an individuality to longhand that should not be dismissed as simply old fashioned. So, what do you think? Is penmanship a thing of the past? Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received over five hundred responses to our issue question, ““Should Americans be required to vote?” The majority of you, sixty eight percent, say no, you should not be required to vote. 26 percent say yes, you should. 6 percent are undecided. Terrence G. of West Allis, Wisconsin writes, “All Americans should vote because it’s the best way to settle thing. Your job is to participate in government.” Victoria R. of Webster, New York agrees and adds, “Voting is a privilege and a right we have earned as citizens. We should use this right and be thankful.” Isabel C. of Oconto Falls, Wisconsin writes, “People these days aren’t taking any action in their government. Voting would help them realize how important their role is.” The majority of you, however, feel requiring people to vote sends the wrong message. Kyle G. of Verona, Virginia writes, “Our country was founded for people to have the right to choose. That also included not choosing to vote.” Niki O. of Georgetown, New York adds, “You shouldn’t have to go to jail for (not) doing something you don’t want to do.” Nevin L. of Oelwein, Iowa writes, “If you don’t like the people who are running you should not have to vote for them. The U.S.A. is a free country and you don’t have to vote.” And finally, Jake C. of Woodbury, Minnesota feels things are fine the way they are. Jake adds, “We can vote if we want to. This is a free country.” We look forward to your responses to our two latest questions: “Is penmanship a thing of the past?” and “Should kids have more free time?” 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 Hawaii, how strong did we tell you the earthquake there was? Was it 1. 5.6 magnitude 2. 6.6 3. 7.6 And the correct answer is number two. The first quake to rock Hawaii Sunday morning was measured at 6.6 magnitude. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 60 Degrees, 10 minutes north latitude 24 Degrees, 58 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a scrambled letter, three words First word H I S L O P Second word A T C L I P O I L Third word S I C S I R And finally, our third clue is a fill in the blanks, two words First word B blank L G blank R blank A N Second word E blank E blank T blank O 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 Teej Jenkins. We’ll see you again next week. © 2006 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.