• NEWS >> ATW 05/15/08
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OPEN/WELCOME
Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of May 15th… I’m Teej Jenkins.
Our top story this week, Myanmar starts the recovery from a devastating storm.
TOP STORY - MYANMAR
16 degrees, 47 minutes north
96 degrees, 10 minutes east
Myanmar continues to reel from last week’s devastating cyclone… leaving up to 1.9 million people to face homelessness, injury, disease and a lack of clean drinking water. Despite resistance from the military junta that rules the country, relief efforts are beginning to reach those in need. The United Nations World Food Program is sending supplies, after a previous shipment of food, was confiscated. Other nations are also continuing to lend a hand.
Even with outside support, only a fraction of the people in need have been reached, and with more rain in the forecast and a continued lack of clean water, the future remains uncertain. The worst-case scenario, as described by a UN Official, is that the lack of drinking water will foster the spread of disease, triggering a second phase of devastation as deadly as the cyclone itself.
As the aftermath unfolds, so does the referendum that is expected to solidify the power of the current military junta. Some observers feel the outcome of the vote could be determined by their handling of the disaster, while others feel the fear of the rulers, that already exists, guarantees the referendum’s approval.
Phase (n) a distinguishable part in a course, development, or cycle; an aspect or part (as of a problem) under consideration
ATW FACT
The U.S. Mint releases the final five state quarters this year bringing the 50-state quarters program, launched in 1999, to a close. In 2005, there were nearly 150 million adult collectors of the newly minted state quarters.
Source: USA Today/Hart Research & National Analysts Worldwide/U.S.A.
INTRO REST OF THE NEWS
In the rest of the news this week…
A powerful storm system hits the U-S.
Factions collide in Lebanon
And China is rattled in its own natural disaster
#2 - CHINA
39 degrees, 55 minutes north latitude
116 degrees, 25 minutes east longitude
Buildings shook and foundations crumbled, as a powerful earthquake jolted China on Monday. The Richter Scale reached an alarming magnitude of 7.8 at its peak. Panic-stricken citizens flooded into the streets to avoid being trapped under falling rubble. In Beichuan County alone, it was reported that 80% of the buildings had collapsed and in Shifang, a chemical plant was destroyed, burying hundreds and leaking more than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia.
The earthquake occurred in an area with many fault lines and could be felt as far away as Hanoi, Vietnam. It was the first serious earthquake to hit China since a 6.8 magnitude quake struck in 2003, killing 268 people. The aftermath is leaving many of the same problems as the cyclone in Myanmar, including injury, road blockages, communication failures and a lack of drinking water.
Richter Scale (n) A logarithmic scale used to express the total amount of energy released by an earthquake. Although the scale has no upper limit, values are typically between 1 and 9.
#3 LEBANON
33 degrees, 53 minutes north
35 degrees, 30 minutes east
Clashes continue in Lebanon between government supporters and opposition forces in the worst sectarian violence in more than a decade. The unrest began as the government declared Hezbollah’s private telephone network as illegal and then fired the chief of airport security for his alleged ties to the group. Hezbollah leaders took this as a declaration of war, sparking a number of clashes that began in Beirut and then spread to other areas. To help put an end to the violence, the Lebanese army issued a statement that the fired chief of airport security is to be reinstated and the network issue will be dealt with by the army.
Sectarian (adj.) Of, relating to, or characteristic of a sect
#4 - UNITED STATES
38 degrees, 38 minutes north latitude
90 degrees, 12 minutes west longitude
Thousands of residents are left to pick up the pieces after a powerful storm system, bringing drenching rains and at least two tornadoes, struck down on the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic US. Heavy rains soaked Maryland, dumping around 5 inches of rain. Roads were flooded and at least 70,000 customers are now without power. The tornado that touched down in Greensboro, North Carolina packed winds with speeds estimated from 111 to 135 mph. The twister knocked down walls and flipped cars and even planes right off the ground. A spokeswoman with the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety stated that the storm blew three tractor-trailers off Interstate 40. Other areas felt the storm as well. An apparent tornado wrecked a shopping mall in Mississippi; strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama and between 75 and 100 homes were damaged in northeastern Virginia.
Tornado (n) A rotating column of air ranging in width from a few yards to more than a mile and whirling at destructively high speeds, usually accompanied by a funnel-shaped downward extension of a cumulonimbus cloud.
POP QUIZ #1
In our story about Myanmar’s recovery from a cyclone, we told you a shipment of food from the U-N World Food Program had been…
- confiscated
- lost
- found
And the correct answer is number one, an early shipment of food was confiscated by government forces before it could be distributed.
OLD CLUE # 1—LOCATION – CRAWFORD, TEXAS
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 Crawford, Texas, where President Bush’s daughter, Jenna, was married on Saturday. The lucky groom was Henry Hager, a former Bush Administration aide. This is the first wedding in a first family since President Richard Nixon’s daughter was wed 37 years ago. It was the biggest social event of the year in Crawford, but no news cameras were allowed in and it’s unsure if a single resident from the small town was invited.
OLD CLUE # 2- RUSSIA PRESIDENT
Fill in the blanks of our next clue and you get Russian President. In a constitutional transition of power, Dimitry Medvedev was inaugurated on May 7th as the new President of Russia, replacing Vladmir Putin. Medvedev is pledging to increase economic development, strengthen democracy and protect human rights. Shortly after his inauguration, he appointed Putin as Russian Prime minister, ensuring his continued role in the future of Russia.
OC #3 – MARTIN TORRIJOS
Discover the role of our newsmaker and you find out that Martin Torrijos is the President of the Republic of Panama. Torrijos met with President Bush at the White House last week, where the US-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement was the main topic of conversation. President Bush assured Torrijos that he will do all he can to get Congress’s approval of the agreement designed to open free trade between the two countries.
THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY
This week in world history… May 15th, 1973.
Nolan Ryan pitches the first no-hitter of his Hall of Fame career. He would go on to pitch five more no-hitters, the last coming when he was 44 years old. A strikeout artist, Nolan Ryan would set the major league record for strikeouts with 5, 714.
CHECK IT OUT
INTRO
Producing Assignment: The World is definitely a team effort. Even though I am the anchor and face of the program, there's an entire team of people that work on the production to pull the show off each week and it all starts with our director, John Overlan.
CHECK IT OUT
(John)
3,2,1..3 12 Go!
The director of Assignment: The World or the director of any program really, is the person responsible for calling the shots....Coming out to camera two. Stand her by. Go ahead, mic and cue her...So its really the person who calls the show and in Assignment: The World's case, I'm the person who calls the show, but I'm also the person who punches it, who directs it and also pushes all the buttons. I mean I can pull all the parts together, I can get the video news clips, I can arrange to get the graphics to be produced, I can supervise the writing of the script, I can get all those parts together, but it takes a crew of about twenty people, between camera operators, floor managers, and editors, volunteers that read all the letters, to pull the show together.
(Teej)
The floor manager will stand me by before we start taping. He gives me a time count, which lets me know that we're ready to roll tape and so that’s when I start speaking. So I get my cues and direction from the floor manager who’s standing in studio by the camera...
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...
When I'm delivering the news and introducing the feature stories and I'm going over the top stories, these are things I wish I could memorize, but there is not time to do so. So I have a teleprompter that I have to read off of and this person sits in the control room with our director. That person controls the teleprompter and that’s what I'm reading each week.
(John)
Assignment: The World could be done with a single camera, if we wanted to, but that would be visually boring and one of the way you keep their attention is to switch things up. There's the primary news shot where Teej speaks to camera two and she introduces the top stories or the clues in the news and those parts of the program. Then there’s a secondary position. One time its camera one, one time its camera two, because camera two will move and she'll introduce the Check it Out feature or camera one gets a shot and justifies her to one side and she reads the issue question and the mail bag. We use something that’s called the chromo key and the chromo key is an electronic function where we can tell the camera to remove that color and replace it with another video source. Again, that’s just something to change things up, keep the show visually interesting; as we move through the fourteen and a half minutes.
(Teej)
What I love about Assignment: The World is being part of delivering news and giving education to the students who appreciate it and also to the viewer in general. I love being in front of the camera and I love bringing you the top stories that are happening around the world each week.
MAILBAG
We received nearly five hundred responses to our issue question: “Should real animals be used in the making of movies?”
The majority of you, 47 percent say yes real animals should be used in the making of movies. 45 percent say no, they should not be used. 8 percent are undecided.
Many of you feel real animals are not necessary in the making of movies.
Queen of Cottage Grove, Minnesota feels it’s just too dangerous. Queen writes, “Animals can get really aggressive… someone could get hurt.”
Peyton G. of Sac City, Iowa writes, “If they use the computer the right way, they should look real enough. Animals follow their instincts and attack. It’s not the animal’s fault.”
Hailey C. of Barneveld, (Bar-neh-veld) Wisconsin adds, “The aggressive nature… is a way of life. Animals deserve to be free… doing the things they should be doing. Not being kept in cages… it just isn’t fair.”
The majority of you, however, think using real animals in the making of movies is the right way to go.
Nick S. of Loyal, Wisconsin writes, “I think there should be real animals in movies because it would be more realistic.”
Anthony B. of Loudonville, New York adds, “Film makers do things that are a lot more dangerous. The odds of getting hurt from animals are very little compared to stunts.”
Arto N. of Ticonderoga, New York adds, “I wouldn’t want to watch a cowboy movie with plaster horses!”
Finally Madi R. of Brighton, New York writes, “Computer animation looks tacky… using real animals makes a film believable. Humans have to understand that when working with wild animals, they’re taking a risk.”
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We also read e-mail at atw@wxxi.org.
POP QUIZ #2
In our story about the earthquake in China, we told you that it was the first serious earthquake in that country since….
- 2005
- 2001
- 2003
And the correct answer is number three, the earthquake striking China this week was the largest since one hit in 2003.
NEW CLUES
And now it’s time to look forward at news stories we think will be happening over the summer months.
Keep an eye on the race for the White House as both the Republican and Democrat Parties will be holding nominating conventions… leading to the Presidential election in November.
China will remain in the news not only for the continuing protests over human rights and Tibet but also for the Olympic Games… scheduled to be held in Beijing this August.
NASA will continue to send shuttle missions to the International Space Station… continuing the exploration of space.
Peace efforts will continue in the Middle East as the United States attempts to jump start talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators that, they hope, will lead to an independent Palestinian state.
Keep an eye on the political situations in Kosovo, Kenya and Somalia as they try to successfully complete transition efforts of new leaders.
These are clues to just some of the stories we think will happen in the coming months. You can find more on radio and television newscasts and in newspapers and newsmagazines. We encourage all of our viewers to stay on top of the world’s news throughout the summer months. Good luck!
GOOD-BYE
And that’s it for this year on Assignment: The World. We enjoy bringing you the news from around the planet each and every week. For all of us here at Assignment: The World, I’m Teej Jenkins. We’ll see you again next fall! Have a great end of the school year and terrific summer!
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