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	• NEWS >> ATW December 14, 2006 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of December 14th, I’m Teej Jenkins. Our top story this week…The Bush administration considers a new course in Iraq. 1—IRAQ STUDY GROUP REPORT UNITED STATES 38 degrees, 54 minutes north 77 degrees, 02 minutes west The President and his top advisors have spent this week consulting with a wide range of experts on what options may lead to better results in Iraq. The President is also considering the report handed to him late last week by the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group. The report took 8 months to compile and came with 79 recommendations for changing policy. Among those: diplomatic overtures to Iran and Syria and speeding up the training of Iraqi forces. The report also calls for a phase-out of the US combat role by 2008 and rejects the idea of a short term increase in the number of US combat forces. The report has a number of critics, among them Senator John McCain who called it a recipe for defeat. Senators Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins are equally skeptical of the call for talks with Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also reject one of the reports recommendations: that Israel talk directly with Syria. Recommendation (n) favorable statement regarding something or someone ATW Fact Fiji is the name given to a southern Pacific island group that is home to slightly more than 900-thousand people. 110 out of 332 islands there are inhabited. Sugar exports and tourism account for much of Fiji’s economy. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… --there are calls for calm after a coup in Fiji… --half a million acres burn in a hot Australian summer.. --and pressure continues on the Lebanese government to step down. #2—LEBANON CRISIS LEBANON 33 degrees, 53 minutes north 35 degrees, 30 minutes east Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is calling for talks to resume between his faction and the pro-Syrian opposition. He continues to reject their ultimatum of a “few days” to form a national unity government. The opposition which is formed largely of the group, Hezbollah, held yet another huge rally in downtown Beirut Sunday. Hezbollah has promised to continue the pressure on Saniora until he agrees either to step down or to give up some of his political power. The crisis in Lebanon began when talks over a unity cabinet collapsed and Hezbollah’s ministers and allies resigned from the government. Conditions worsened in late November with the assassination of anti-Syrian politician Pierre Gemayel. Divisions have continued to deepen largely along lines between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Cabinet(n) body of persons appointed to head executive departments of government #3—FIJI COUP FIJI 18 degrees, 08 minutes south 178 degrees, 25 minutes east A state of emergency remains in place a week after Fiji’s military commander seized power from the elected government. Commodore Frank Bainimarama took control after a month long standoff with Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase over a series of bills that would, in part, secure coastal land rights for native Fijians. While the coup has thus far been bloodless, the leader of the 53-nation Commonwealth says fighting could soon erupt. Secretary General Don McKinnon urged a return to civilian government and plans a diplomatic mission there soon. This is the fourth coup in 20 years in Fiji. The deposed prime minister insists he is still Fiji’s leader but has flown away from the capital of Suva at the request of the military. Coastal (adj) of the land next to the sea #4— —AUSTRALIAN BUSH FIRES AUSTRALIA 37 degrees, 49 minutes south 144 degrees, 58 minutes east Australian officials say its possible they are fighting a fire that could linger on for months. Australia’s south-eastern state Victoria is suffering through the worst drought on record. That’s led to conditions that have fed fires that have already blackened more than 600-thousand acres of forest and farmland. 35-hundred firefighters have been called in to try to contain the massive blaze. They got some relief Monday from cool weather and winds. Just a day before, temperatures in the region soared to over 107 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest December day in that region in more than half a century. Two homes have been destroyed but the fires have yet to cause any injuries. Drought (n) a long period with no rain POP QUIZ #1 In our story about Iraq, when did we tell you the report of the Iraq Study Group recommended US troops withdraw? Is it 1. 2007 2. 2008 3. 2009 And the answer is number 2. The report by the Iraq Study Group favors a phased withdrawal by 2008. OLD CLUE # 1—MOLDOVA PRESIDENT Time now for answers to last week’s Clues in the News. Our first clue was the location of Chisenau, the capital of Moldova. That’s where spokesmen for that country’s Foreign Ministry denounced an election held Sunday. Igor Smirnov won a 4th term as president of the Trans-Dniester region, a breakaway republic on the eastern edge of Moldova. Smirnov and his supporters favor joining Russia which has kept troops in the region since a Moldovan civil war in 1992. Moldova has repeatedly demanded that those troops be withdrawn, requests that Russia continues to deny. OLD CLUE # 2— SHUTTLE LIFTOFF Unscramble our second clue and you got shuttle liftoff. Space shuttle Discovery rose into the air Saturday in the first nighttime liftoff in 4 years. NASA had required daytime launches in the wake of the Columbia disaster. Discovery’s crew has a busy 12-day schedule at the International Space Station. 3 space walks are planned with work to include rewiring the station to use new solar panel arrays and join an 11-million dollar addition to the space lab. US astronaut Suni Williams will trade places with a German astronaut who had spent the last 6 months in space. OLD CLUE # 3—HEISMAN TROPHY And finally, fill in the blanks on our third clue and you got Heisman Trophy. Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith received a record number of first place votes to be named college football’s best player. Smith has lost just twice in 27 games as a starter at Ohio State. His team plays for the national championship against Florida January 8th. This was the 71st Heisman Trophy to be awarded. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… December 14th, 1911 16 dogs and five men led by Norwegian Roald Amundsen reach the geographical South Pole. It took the first team to stand at the bottom of the world 99 days to travel more than 1800 miles there and back. A second party of Englishman reached the Pole soon after but never made it back home. ATW FEATURE INTRO A while back we showed you a piece about a band called Toubab Krewe who mixed music from the South with music from West Africa, well we’ve going back to talk a little bit more about some of their intriguing instruments. Beki Gibney checks it out! ATW FEATURE (Justin) My name is Justin Perkins and I’m a part of the Toubab Krewe, this instrument that I’m holding in my hands is called a Kora 21 strings, originated in what is now Guinea-Bissau in West Africa on the coast, that’s played through out West Africa, it’s a very old instrument, the first time it was ever written about was in the 10th century by outsiders. It’s made out of a big gourd that is cut in half, a piece of cow skin that is put over top, this is a kind of mahogany from West Africa, and the strings are just fishing wire. When you play it you hold it like this with the posts, and you play with your fingers and your thumbs. I came to this instrument in 2001, I went to Africa to study percussion and I then went to the ivory coast, met my teacher Lamine Soumano who is a Malian it’s an instrument that’s played by a group of people called Griot or Jeli and they are the oral historians of the culture, and they recited the culture’s history threw song and threw praise and so the man I learned from he learned from people in his family it was passed down generation to generation. (Beki) If you thought learning that difficult instrument was enough he also plays another harp. (Justin) This instrument is called Kamel N'goni and this is just particular to southern Mali, this comes from a different tradition. The people who play this, they are Malinke, they are Mandingue people, which is and ethnic group found throughout West Africa. This is an instrument played by the Fulah or the Peuhl, it is a different technique, it’s played on a pentatonic scale, it comes from a Donso N’goni, it’s a much bigger version of this with 6 strings, my teacher took it and electrified it and put 12 strings on it, his name was Vieux Kante, he passed away last year, and he was blind, and he kind of did for this instrument what Jimmy Hendrix did for the guitar. (Beki) For Assignment: the World, I’m Beki Gibney. ISN’T IT COOL LET IT SNOW There usually isn’t much snow in southern Georgia but Gene Long wanted to surprise his wife. Using instructions he found on the Internet the southern gentleman built his own snow machine using a pressure washer and an air compressor. Overnight temperatures dropped into the 20s making conditions right and his wife, a Pennsylvania native, awoke to a snow-covered front yard. The couple had enough snow for a snowball fight! ISSUE Time is one of a number of magazines or news outlets that annually chooses a Newmaker of the Year; a man, woman or an idea that most influenced events of the preceding year. There are many candidates for 2006. President Bush, who has already been named Person of the Year twice, was once again at the center of things in the past year. Nancy Pelosi will soon become the first woman to lead the House of Representatives. North Korea’s Kim Jong-il and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were often part of the lead story of the news this past year. Of course, politicians weren’t the only ones deserving of the title. Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were, for better or worse, on many magazine covers. Sports Illustrated has already named Miami’s Dwayne Wade as its Sportsperson of the Year. Some would argue that Chad Hurley and Steve Chen or their invention, YouTube are worthy of consideration. But you might also want to consider people who aren’t necessarily famous but who are perhaps more important to you including teachers, parents or other relatives. What do you think? Who Should be Newsmaker of the Year? Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received nearly six hundred responses to our issue question, “Should classrooms be single sex?” The majority of you, 78 percent say no, classes should not be single sex. 15 percent say yes, single sex classes are a good idea. 7 percent are undecided. Some of you think having single sex classrooms might be a good idea. Eva C. of Plover, Wisconsin writes, “Guys and girls will concentrate on their school work. There is a time for work and time for play. School is a time for work.” Desiree M. of Wittenberg, Wisconsin feels single sex classrooms will remove distractions. Desiree writes, “Girls will do better when they aren’t trying to impress the boys.” The majority of you, however, do not see the benefits of same sex classrooms. Zoe Z. of Killeen, Texas writes, “When we’re adults we aren’t going to be able to be with only boys or girls. We need to be prepared for the real world.” Riley H. of Leroy, New York agrees adding, “Kids need to learn how to work together with different sexes in preparation for future life.” Lauren M. of Howard, Wisconsin thinks single sex classrooms could cause more problems. Lauren writes, “Separating them now will make people less likely to be able to communicate with the other sex.” Many of you think single sex classrooms would be a step backward. Denis C. of Weston, Massachusetts writes, “People have been trying to create equal rights for years. Separating the two genders would be a step back from that.” Finally, Claire of Stephens City, Virginia agrees and adds, “Classrooms should instill a feeling of diversity. They should not be divided for a reason as trivial as gender.” We look forward to your responses to our two latest questions: “Who should be newsmaker of the year?” and “Should boys be allowed to play on girls’ sports teams?” 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 brushfires, in which Australian state did we tell you the fires are being fought? Is it 1. South Australia 2. Queensland 3. Victoria And the correct answer is number 3. Fires have already burned more than 600-thousand acres in Victoria. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 39 Degrees, 55 minutes north latitude 116 Degrees, 25 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a scrambled letter, two words: First word K E Y R U T Second word S O N I C D I E And finally, our third clue is a fill in the blanks, three words First word M blank D blank L Second word O blank Third word F blank E blank D blank M 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.