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	• NEWS >> ATW Week of January 24, 2008 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of January 24th, 2008… I’m Teej Jenkins. Our top story this week the race for the White House moves south. TOP STORY - UNITED STATES 34 degrees, 00 minutes North 81 degrees, 02 minutes West Senator John McCain gained a crucial victory in the South Carolina primary re-invigorating his run for the Republican nomination for President. The Arizona senator narrowly defeated former governor Mike Huckabee winning 33 percent of the vote. Huckabee appeared before supporters congratulating McCain but is not conceding defeat in the race. McCain, his campaign left for dead six months ago, said his victory in the first southern primary would boost his chances in Florida and on February 5th when more than a dozen states hold caucuses and primaries. In Nevada, former Massachusetts’s governor Mitt Romney romped to victory winning roughly 50 percent of the vote in a multi-candidate field. The other Republican candidates did little campaigning in Nevada, deciding to concentrate on South Carolina because it was the first contest in a southern state, long a Republican stronghold. Meanwhile Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama split the vote in Nevada. Clinton won the popular vote but Obama won more delegates to the national convention… 13-12. The Democrats now head to South Carolina for their primary scheduled for January 26. nomination (n) The act or an instance of submitting a name for candidacy or appointment.. ATW Fact The South Carolina Republican primary is the first in the South. This dates back to 1980 when the primary was scheduled early to help then candidate Ronald Reagan. Voters don’t register by party and therefore can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. Source: U.S. News & World Report INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… n Serbia goes to the polls n Violence in Kenya following their elections continues n And tension mounts in Gaza. #2 – ISRAEL 24 degrees, 28 minutes north latitude 54 degrees, 22 minutes east longitude Palestinians protested across the Gaza Strip and West Bank after Israel closed crossings into Gaza in an attempt to stop rocket attacks into southern Israel. Rocket attacks increased last week after Israeli air strikes in Gaza left more than 30 Palestinians dead. Israel said their air strikes were targeting suspected Hamas terrorist activities. Israel sealed all crossings into Gaza, cutting off fuel supplies. Stores and gas stations closed due to the lack of fuel. The city’s only electrical plant shut down. A United Nations group condemned Israel saying the situation could deteriorate into a humanitarian crisis. Israel denies the crisis saying they supply Gaza with 70 percent of their electricity and that has not stopped. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave no indication that the blockade would end any time soon. crossings (n) A place at which roads, lines, or tracks intersect; an intersection. #3 - KENYA 01 degrees, 17 minutes south latitude 36 degrees, 49 minutes east longitude Violence in Nairobi, Kenya continues following disputed presidential elections held last month. Opposition leaders have claimed that President Mwai Kibaki stole the election. Government reports say more than 600 people have been killed since the elections. The violence has weakened Kenya’s image as a stable democracy and damaged its tourist-dependent economy. It has also increased long-simmering ethnic tensions. President Kibaki belongs to the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest ethnic group. Opposition leader Raila Odinga is a Luo. Kibaki wants to meet face-to-face with Odinga… something Odinga says will only happen with an international mediator present. democracy (n) a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents. #4 - SERBIA 44 degrees, 50 minutes north latitude 20 degrees, 30 minutes east longitude Polls closed and vote counting was underway after Serbian voters cast their ballots to choose a new President. The closely contested race between pro-Western and nationalist candidates appeared to be heading to a run-off. Independent monitors say early results indicated Radical Party Tomislav Nikolic had received about 39 percent of the vote… narrowly out-polling incumbent Boris Tadic but failing to win a majority. Once results are confirmed a run-off election will be set for February 3rd. The vote could determine whether Serbia moves more closely to the European Union or returns to its isolationist past. monitors~(n) One that admonishes, cautions, or reminds, especially with respect to matters of conduct. POP QUIZ #1 In our story about the Republican primary in South Carolina we told you that in the last 28 years the winner has gone on to… 1. Win the Republican nomination 2. Win the Presidency 3. Win on Super Tuesday And the correct answer is number one, the Republican winner of South Carolina has gone on to win the party’s nomination for President of the United States. OLD CLUE # 1—LOCATION – HAVANA, CUBA Now its time for the answers to last week’s clues in the news. Find the location of our first clue and you get Havana, Cuba. Cubans went to the polls to elect a new parliament… including Fidel Castro. The vote is seen as a key step in determining the role of the ailing leader who hasn’t been seen in public in 18 months. Castro’s brother, Raul, who has been governing Cuba, announced the new Parliament would meet next month to declare a new Council of State, Cuba’s governing body. OLD CLUE # 2— SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY Fill in the blanks of our next clue and you get South Carolina Primary. Senator John McCain's victory continues his remarkable turnaround in his run for the Republican nomination for President. For the last 28 years the winner in South Carolina has gone on to become the Republican nominee. McCain's narrow victory over former Governor Mike Huckabee puts him in a strong position to claim the nomination. The next big Republican test is in Florida. It's primary is scheduled for January 29. OC #3 – BASEBALL HEARINGS Unscramble our next clue and you Baseball Hearings. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Player’s Association Head Donald Fehr appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to answer questions about the use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball. The use of steroids, Human Growth Hormone and amphetamines by baseball players has been in the news with the release of The George Mitchell Report… a report commissioned by baseball to look into the use of performance enhancing drugs. Roger Clemens and other players are expected to testify in the coming weeks. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in World History...January 24, 1848 James Marshall found gold at Sutter's Mill northern California. Marshall's discovery sparked what would become known as the '49 Gold Rush. Prospectors came from all over the world in search of their fortune. They became known as “forty-niners.” CHECK IT OUT INTRO We visited the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York to learn more about a wild animal that can make a nice pet. Check it out. CHECK IT OUT Erin Brisson-Rosamond Gifford Zoo (Narration) This is Max, the red-lored amazon parrot at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Its one of the most common birds to be found as a pet. Although, you can stroll into almost any pet store in your neighborhood and see one just like it, this parrot and others in his bird family, are originally found thousands of miles away. (Erin) They are just in the amazon family, which is a bunch of different birds, about a hundred different kinds of amazons and they all live in Central and South America. In captivity they can live to be about 70 or 80 years old. You have to really look into getting a parrot as a pet. They are screamers and they like to be very loud and destructive. And just like I said they can attach to one particular person. So it can be a great pet, but if you dont know how to handle him, then he can also be a very hard pet to have which is why so many of them come back to the pet stores and aren't kept by their owners for very long. (Narration) Usually in captivity, their destructive nature can be seen simply as a nuisance, but to the local farmers around their natural habitat, its seen as a bigger issue... (Erin) He's actually pretty destructive in nature, he goes after a lot of different crops that the farmers plant, which is why a lot of the farmers have been going after him. (Narration) Sadly, the parrot population is being affected for other reasons as well. (Erin) There's a lot of habitat destruction right now and it's mostly by humans. They are not endangered but they are being hunted down for their feathers out in the wild right now and for illegal pet trade. (Narration) Fortunately, owning a parrot doesn't necessarily add to the problems it faces. (Erin) All the ones in pet stores are born in captivity so none of them are taken from the wild. (Narration) In captivity, to raise a parrot right, you need responsibility and love . Both of which should also be given to them and their habitat in the wild. ISN’T IT COOL Italy unveiled its latest prize in its battle against illegal trafficking in antiquities. A 2500-year-old vase was returned to Rome by The Metropolitan Museum in New York. The large vase, painted with scenes related to Homer’s epic poems “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” is regarded as one of the finest examples of its kind. . ISSUE Article Two of our Constitution prohibits anyone not born in the United States from becoming President. Some people are pushing for an amendment that would allow foreign-born men and women to be eligible to run for president. They say the original reasons for the prohibition no longer apply and now seem only to punish people who want to serve their new country. Under the current rules, neither former Secretary of State Madeline Albright nor current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger could run for president. Opponents of the amendment say there are far more important issues to address before fixing a document that doesn’t need any more fixing. Experts say the framers of the constitution wrote Article Two to prevent any foreign takeover of our government, a precaution that still rings true today. Well, we’d like to know what you think? “Should foreign-born US citizens be allowed to run for President?” Discuss this with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received almost five hundred responses to our issue question, “Do you get too much homework? The majority of you, 48 percent, say yes, you do get too much homework. 46 percent say no, you do not. 6 percent are undecided. Many of you feel that homework is important to help you learn and that you are not getting too much to do. Breana J. of Cottage Grove, Minnesota writes, “In elementary school you get a lot of homework to (help) develop your study skills.” Hayley B. of Georgetown, New York adds, “My homework gives me something to do when I am bored. If teachers give a lot of homework… then kids get a good education.” Bailey L. of Fargo, North Dakota writes, “It is fun… and helps us stay sharp about what we are learning.” The majority of you, however, feel sometimes you are getting too much homework and that it adds too much stress to your life. Elizabeth H. of Beloit, Wisconsin writes, “I have three different teachers for three different classes… I get homework in each and it is sometimes very hard.” Joseph C. of Garrison, North Dakota adds, “When you have too much, you get stressed out and it can stress your parents” Cassidy H. of Auburn, Iowa agrees and writes, “If people get too much they … won’t get it (all) done.” Tristin H. of Geneseo, New York adds,“Sometimes I stay up until ten thirty pm just to do my homework! Finally, David A. of Sargeant Bluff, Iowa adds, “Today, it felt like we were hit with a bulldozer! It took us 1 hr, 9 minutes to do one subject… with a partner!” We look forward to your responses to our two latest questions:”Should Oscar Pistorius be allowed to compete in the Beijing Olympics?” and “Should foreign-born US citizens be allowed to run for President?” 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 S 3-11 In our story about the Serbian elections we told you that voting there failed to reach a…. 1. region 2. majority 3. conclusion And the correct answer is number two, voting failed to reach a majority, leading to run-off elections next month. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 46 degrees, 48 minutes north latitude 09 degrees, 50 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a fill in the blank…it is two words. The first word is an acronym. First word N blank T blank Second word S blank M blank I blank And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter clue. It is two words. First word. A O S R Y M ‘ S Second word O N E R N C C F E E 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.