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	• NEWS >> ATW 05/05/08 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of May 8th… I’m Teej Jenkins. Our top story this week, a devastating cyclone hits Myanmar. TOP STORY - MYANMAR 16 degrees, 47 minutes north 96 degrees, 10 minutes east A cyclone, packing winds of up to 120 miles per hour, struck Myanmar, a nation bordered by India, China and Thailand last week. Thousands died from the storm and many more are still missing. An assessment from the UN World Food Program says up to 1 million are left homeless with some villages almost completely wiped out. Huge rice growing areas have been decimated. The country is expected to receive aid from outside organizations, something that they have been reluctant to do in the past. Many nations including Thailand, Canada and the Czech Republic have pledged aid and the UN World Food Program plans to fly in food. That mission, along with other aid efforts will be difficult due to the damage. Trees and electrical poles are down in many areas, causing major road blockages. Communication lines from Myanmar are ravaged from the cyclone. For the most inaccessible areas, supplies are to be brought in by helicopter or boat. The cyclone comes just days before the May 10th referendum on the country’s newly drafted constitution. Many in Myanmar see this draft as a tool to keep the ruling military junta in power. If the disaster is not handled properly, many speculate that the citizens could take their frustrations out at the ballot boxes. It was reported on state radio that voting on the referendum will be postponed in the hardest hit areas, but the less affected areas will continue as planned. Referendum (n) the principle or practice of submitting to popular vote a measure proposed by a legislative body. ATW FACT The deadliest tropical cyclone occurred in 1970… killing an estimated 500,000 in Bangladesh and India. The storm surge devastated many islands, wiping out villages and destroying crops throughout the region. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… n Food shortages get worse in Haiti n A sleeping giant wakes in Chile n The U-S presses for peace in the Middle East. #2 - ISRAEL 31 degrees, 46 minutes north latitude 35 degrees, 14 minutes east longitude Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is continuing talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an effort to reach a peace deal. Rice feels that reaching this deal is pain-staking work, but still achievable. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials are as optimistic. One point of controversy is the continued construction of Jewish settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians. Recent tensions have been mounting from the presence of numerous military roadblocks in the West Bank. Israel feels the roadblocks are necessary to protect settlements from would be attackers. Palestinians feel they cause restrictions that hurt their economy and make travel difficult. The peace deal is based on the U.S. backed “road map”, a process designed to lead to the peaceful formation of an independent Palestinian State. Until the deal is reached, Israel is to halt settlement activity and improve movement for Palestinians, while Palestine is supposed to dismantle militant groups. As of yet, neither side has met their obligations. Roadblock (n) a barricade or obstruction across a road set up to prevent the escape or passage, as of a fugitive or enemy troops #3 CHILE 33 degrees, 27 minutes south 70 degrees, 40 minutes west A town in the Los Lagos region of Chile is nearly abandoned and remains covered in ash after what was considered to be a dormant volcano erupted. This volcano rising over 3000 feet in the air, blew smoke and ash as high as 12 miles into the sky, causing almost all of the town’s 4,500 citizens to evacuate. The effect of the eruption was felt for miles as it triggered around 60 tremors delivering a layer of ash to surrounding towns and villages. Dormant (adj.) lying asleep or as if asleep; inactive. #4 - HAITI 18 degrees, 32 minutes north latitude 72 degrees, 20 minutes west longitude Worldwide, food prices have risen 40 percent since mid -2007. Although many are affected, the Caribbean nation of Haiti is one of the hardest hit. Haiti is vulnerable to the global crisis because it imports nearly all of its food, including 80 percent of its rice. Erosion, deforestation, flooding and tropical storms have devastated much of its farmland. Earlier this month, the UN gave gifts of food to people in one small area of Haiti, but those goods are not expected to last long. In response, the UN World Food Program is beginning its effort to collect 54 million dollars from donor nations to deliver food to both rural and urban areas of Haiti. vulnerable (adj) susceptible to being physically or emotionally wounded. POP QUIZ #1 In our story about Myanmar, we told you the country was hit by a… 1. hurricane 2. thunderstorm 3. cyclone And the correct answer is number three, Myanmar was hit by a cyclone with winds up to 120 miles per hour. OLD CLUE # 1—LOCATION – LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY Now its time for the answers to last week’s clues in the news. Find the location of our first clue and find yourself in Louisville, Kentucky for the running of the 134th Kentucky Derby. Big Brown was the big winner, out running the second place filly, Eight Belles, by almost 5 lengths. This was the fourth straight victory for Big Brown. The win was overshadowed by tragedy, however. After finishing the race, Eight Belles’ broke both front ankles and had to be euthanized only a quarter mile past the finish line OLD CLUE # 2- EDUCATION SUMMIT Fill in the blanks of our next clue and you get Education Summit. Nearly 300 university presidents, government officials, and corporate and foundation leaders from around the globe met in Washington DC at the Higher Education Summit for Global Development. They met with the goal of expanding the role and impact of U.S. and foreign higher education institutions in worldwide social and economic development. At the summit, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative, a 1 million dollar grant to expand African Universities and improve studies in a variety of programs. OC #3 – BOLVIIA REFERENDUM Unscramble the letters of our third clue and you get Bolivia Referendum. Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s largest and richest state voted on a measure to achieve more political and economic autonomy from President Morales’ government. Morales’ favors a communal state across the whole nation. Santa Cruz seeks autonomy to keep a higher amount of the revenue from their natural resources and to protect their farmland from the government’s plan to redistribute land to the poor. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… May 5, 1961. Astronaut Alan Shepard became the first U.S. space traveler when he successfully completed a 15-minute sub-orbital flight. CHECK IT OUT INTRO Now we’re off to the Buffalo Zoo to meet a species of frog that has the blues whether it’s happy or sad. Check It Out! CHECK IT OUT Penny Danielewicz-Zookeeper, Buffalo Zoo (Narration) There are thousands of species of frogs of many different colors and sizes. This native of Surinam is a blue poison dart frog. (Penny) The blue dart frogs are terrestrial. They'll spend most of their time on the forest floor. It’s an amphibian so it’s in the same family or class as salamanders, and newts and caecilians. The toe pads on the blue dart frogs are different. Because they are a terrestrial species, they don't have webbing on their feet. They do stay on the forest floor. They don't swim as often as other frogs might and they do have very large toe pads and you can actually use the toe pads to ID females versus males. Males have much larger toe pads. The blue frogs have a toxin called lipophilic alkaloid. It comes from their diet. A lot of the ants that you find in Surinam have the same toxin that the frogs do and we believe the ants ingest toxic plants, so it’s a whole chain of events that actually makes the frogs toxic. In captivity, they lose their toxin, so they're not dangerous to humans. (Narration) Even with their ability to produce venom in the wild, the dart frog is not safe in its natural environment. Humans collect these creatures and sell them across the world in the illegal pet trade. The dart frog and other animals in its ecosystem face many obstacles in their environment. Pressure from the actions of humans only makes survival more difficult. We must all do what we can to limit the effect mankind has on the natural world. ISN’T IT COOL A Newark, New Jersey cab driver is a hero! When violinist Philippe Quint left his violin in the back of a cab he thought he had lost it forever. But cabdriver Mohamed Khalil said, “It’s something that doesn’t belong to me, I have to return it to its owner.” Which he did… reuniting the Grammy-nominated violinist with his 4 million dollar violin. MAILBAG We received over three hundred responses to our issue question: “Should the United States boycott the Olympic Games?” The majority of you, 74 percent say no the United States should not boycott the Olympics. 16 percent say yes a boycott is a good idea. 10 percent are undecided. Some of you feel a boycott is needed to make the world more aware of China’s policies on Tibet and human rights. Mari J. of Glendale, Wisconsin writes, “Unless the Chinese government stops (it’s) cruelty and inhumanity… we should wait until the next Olympic Games. Our country should stand against (China.)” Jacob P. of Loudonville, New York agrees and adds, “If the United States boycotted the Olympics, the history of China… would be more in the public eye. (A) boycott would unite countries that think China is wrong. China needs to know that the United States is strongly committed to human rights.” Micaela P. of Waupaca, Wisconsin writes, “(A boycott) would cost a lot less… besides, it’s not fair what China is doing to Tibet.” The majority of you, however, feel the United States should not boycott the Olympics. Amelia E. of Fairfield, Virginia writes, “The point of the Olympics is to bring nations together in a peaceful way. Boycotting… would be unfair to the athletes representing the United States.” Abigail G. of Sioux Center, Iowa agrees and writes, “The Olympics are not about politics. It’s about athletes coming together to compete and have fun.” Jackie P. of Oneonta, New York writes, “The Olympics are held once every four years. We all look forward to (them.)” Cody W. of Jamestown, North Dakota is afraid of possible repercussions. Cody writes, “China could stop making stuff for us. It could also lead to war.” Finally, Jaiden S. of Dickinson, North Dakota adds, “Those athletes have been training for years. China should (just) start training people right.” We look forward to your responses to our last issue question of the year, “Should real animals be used in the making of movies?” 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 Haiti, we told you that the United Nations gave gifts to people in need there. What did the U-N give as gifts? Was it? 1. food 2. money 3. clothes And the correct answer is number one, the United Nations gave gifts of food to those in need in Haiti. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 31 degrees, 32 minutes north latitude 97 degrees, 27 minutes west longitude Our second clue is a fill in the blank…it is two words. First word R blank S blank I A blank Second word P blank E blank I D blank blank T And finally, our third clue is a Newsmaker. Who is? Martin Torrijos These are clues to stories we think will happen in the coming weeks. 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. For all of us here at Assignment: The World, I’m Teej Jenkins. We’ll see you again next week. © 2008 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.