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	• NEWS >> ATW Week of February 14, 2008 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of February 14th, 2008… I’m Teej Jenkins. Our top story this week… the Republicans have a nominee-in-waiting TOP STORY - UNITED STATES 39 degrees, 07 minutes north 94 degrees, 38 minutes west Following the results of Super Tuesday Senator John McCain emerged as the Republican nominee-in-waiting when former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney announced he was suspending his run for the White House. Romney had been McCain’s closest competitor… his stepping down leaves only former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as a challenger. While McCain maintains what seems to be an insurmountable lead Huckabee did win the Kansas caucus and Louisiana primary. Huckabee received nearly 60 percent of the vote in Kansas telling supporters there he still believes in miracles. McCain was victorious in Washington state. His delegate count is now 719…. 1,191 is the count needed to win the Republican nomination. The race for the Democratic nomination remains tighter than ever as Senator Barack Obama continues to slice into the lead of Senator Hillary Clinton. Obama won the Louisiana primary as well as caucuses in Washington state and Nebraska to pull closer in the delegate count. On Monday, Clinton had 1,084 delegates. Obama cut her lead to 27 with 1,057 delegates. nominee (n) A person nominated, as to run for elective office or fill a particular post. ATW FACT It takes only about eight minutes for the Space Shuttle to reach a speed of more than 17,000 miles an hour. The release of energy from its three main engines equals that of the output of 23 Hoover Dams. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… A volcano in Ecuador erupts Kosovo declares its intentions And the space shuttle Atlantis rockets into space. #2 – UNITED STATES 28 degrees, 24 minutes north latitude 80 degrees, 36 minutes west longitude After two months of delays the space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from Cape Canaveral last week with a two billion dollar space lab named Columbus on board. Atlantis and its seven-person crew docked with the International Space Station Saturday. Plans to install the new lab were postponed when one of the astronauts became ill. NASA officials say the medical problem is not life-threatening and moved plans to install the lab to Monday. German astronaut Hans Schlegel will be replaced by his crewmate, Stanley Love. Schlegel is still scheduled for a second space walk later in the mission. The delay in installing Columbus and carrying out the first space walk prompted NASA to add a 12th day to the mission. postpone (v) to put off to a later time; defer. #3 - KOSOVO 44 degrees, 42 minutes north latitude 18 degrees, 19 minutes east longitude Albanian leaders in Kosovo announced plans to declare independence from Serbia in a matter of days. Residents of Kosovo’s Serb enclaves are worried what their future may hold as independence plans go forward. Serbia’s EU neighbors, Bulgaria and Romania oppose independence. They fear it may lead to a destabilization of the Balkans, a region still recovering from bloody civil wars in the 1990s. Russia also opposes Kosovo’s plans saying it would set a bad precedent. The United States and most of the other EU nations support Kosovo, however. They say the United Nations run province, with a nearly 90-percent Albanian population, is a special case. Enclave (n) any small, distinct area or group enclosed or isolated within a larger one. #4 - ECUADOR 00 degrees, 13 minutes south latitude 78 degrees, 30 minutes west longitude Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano is spewing ash and rock from its crater as experts warn that a more violent eruption is likely. Shooting ash nearly six miles into the air, Tungurahua sent fiery rocks down its side. The 16,000 foot plus volcano, whose name means “throat of fire”, has been active since 1999. It has been spitting out ash and gases intermittently since last year. Experts are warning that the intense activity shows no signs of ending. Civil Defense officials have evacuated nearly two thousand villagers living nearby. intermittently~(adj) stopping or ceasing for a time; alternately ceasing and beginning again. POP QUIZ #1 In our story about John McCain, we told you that following Super Tuesday he had become the 1. Leader in the clubhouse 2. Senator in charge 3. nominee-in-waiting And the correct answer is number three, John McCain appears to be overwhelming front-runner for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. OLD CLUE # 1—LOCATION – PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC 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 Prague, Czech Republic. Elections held for the third time there failed to choose a President. Incumbent Vaclav Klaus received 139 votes, just one vote short of the 140 necessary for re-election. His rival, Czech-American Jan Svejnar received 113 votes. Both candidates declared their intentions to run in another round of voting scheduled for February 15th. OLD CLUE # 2— MISSILE TALKS Fill in the blanks of our next clue and you get Missile Talks. A meeting of top defense officials in Munich, Germany included discussions of a U-S plan to place missile shields in Poland and the Czech Republic. While Russia and U-S officials have been at odds on the plan, Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov said the United States and Russia need to work closely to combat nuclear proliferation. Ivanov suggests that the two countries should negotiate new bilateral treaties on nuclear weapons. OC #3 – Amadou Toumani Toure Find the role of our newsmaker… Amadou Toumani Toure and you discover he is the President of Mali. The North Africa nation declared its independence from France in 1960. Its first democratic presidential election occurred in 1992. President Toure is only the second democratically elected president in Mali’s history. His visit this week included a meeting with President Bush to discuss several issues. Both presidents expressed their support for advancing democracy and human rights worldwide. They also discussed security issues in northern Mali and the fight against terrorism. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… Feb. 15, 1898 The U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana harbor, killing 260 members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain CHECK IT OUT INTRO Our constitution states that all men are created equal, but in the early days of our nation that didn't ring true. Africans were pulled from their homeland, traded as property and sent to the new colonies to be enslaved. In spite of all the hardships they faced, their spirit was never broken. Check It Out. CHECK IT OUT (Nyree) Enslavement has existed since the beginning of time. European enslavement however took its early forms in the late 1400's. Once they began to colonize the Americas, the need for enslaved labor increased and that is when you see the onset of enslavement about the early 1500's. (Narration) The slaves' voyage across the Atlantic was a grueling trip, known as the Middle Passage. (Nyree) Enslaved Africans were packed on the ship spoon style, ensuring that whoever had enslaved them would get the most amount of money for the cargo. They often suffered from dysentery and malaria. Many times half of the enslaved Africans never made it. Once an enslaved African arrived on the coast, he or she was prepped for sale at the market. Once they were sold, they'd be taken to plantations and as we know families were separated often. Those who worked in the fields worked all day. And they had no rights. They weren't allowed to have families. Their very life and death lied in the hands of the person who enslaved them. They were punished often with whippings and beatings, which were done publicly. They suffered extreme abuse at the hands of the slave masters, the mistresses, and the children of the master and mistress. (Nyree) That took away the humanity of the slave in the eyes of the rest of America. However the spirit of the enslaved person never settled for less. The spirit of the enslaved African rose above every circumstance and situation in which he or she encountered. From survival of the Middle Passage, to the Americas, enduring the separation of family, beatings, whippings, watching loved ones die. The spirit of the enslaved Africans still exists in all of the world today, and it is why, we the United States are so strong, and why this country exists in the manner in which it does today. ISN’T IT COOL U-S Army Sergeant Peter Neesley promised to bring his two “buddies” home when his time in Iraq ended. When he died in his sleep last Christmas, his family in Michigan decided to make sure his wishes came true. Mama, a black lab cross and her puppy Boris arrived in Grosse Point Michigan last week. His family say the two dogs are a tribute to the sergeant and will provide a link that will last for years. ISSUE Schools everywhere work to provide safe environments for their students. Some have banned certain foods that someone might be allergic to…others have even banned games like tag because they say they are unsafe. Well, now some schools are banning hugs and other public displays of affection. They say that with fears of sexual harassment it is better to ban PDA’s then to allow them. They say the school is no place for displays of affection. Still others say keeping kids from hugging the hall provides them with more time to get to class on time. Some, however, are saying this is taking things a bit too far. They say that giving a friend a birthday hug or to celebrate a big win doesn’t take up that much time. Many feel giving a hug is harmless and doesn’t need to be regulated. Well, we would like to know what you think… “Should public displays of affection in school be banned?” Discuss this issue 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, “Should animals be used in research experiments?” The majority of you, 66 percent say no, animals should not be used for research experiments. 25 percent say yes, they should. 9 percent are undecided. Many of you feel the advances in medicine and science made possible by using animals in research experiments are too important. Jordan L. of Washburn, Wisconsin writes “If we don’t use animals, how could we find antidotes and medicines for different illnesses?” Quinn S. of Loudonville, New York agrees and writes, “It is necessary to use animals if humans want to continue making progress in the study of medicine.” Connor N. of Mequon, Wisconsin adds, “There is not a good replacement for most of the testing… animals help save humans.” Connor H. of Staunton, Virginia writes, “If it helps us find cures for diseases like cancer, I say go for it.” The majority of you, however, feel using animals in research experiments isn’t fair. Samuel T. of Oneonta, New York writes, “Animals should be treated with respect… (they) should be left alone in their natural habitat.” Timothy L. of Lawrence, Massachusetts adds, “An animal’s life is just as precious as a human’s.” Alexis H. of Bismarck, North Dakota writes, “They could get hurt, infected or (even) die! They have feelings too!” Kes B. of Moultonborough, New Hampshire adds, “I think it is cruel for animals to be used like that. Scientists shouldn’t be so cruel.” Kasey F. of Dubuque, Iowa agrees and writes, “People who love animals will start a big fight…it will only add to lots of other problems.” And finally, Nelly G. of Brighton, New York feels “Animal testing is unethical. Animals shouldn’t be used as things people test on.” We look forward to your responses to our two latest questions: “Should all parents be required to sign a sportsmanship pledge?” and “Should public displays of affection in school be banned?” 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 the Czech Republic and U-S talks we told you they were negotiating the placement of what kind of shields… are they? 1. radar 2. missile 3. weapon And the correct answer is number two, the Czech Republic and United States are talking about placing missile defense shields in that country. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 42 degrees, 39 minutes north latitude 21 degrees, 10 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a fill in the blank…it is two words. First word A blank R blank C blank N Second word T blank blank P And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter clue…it is two words… First word T R I D O E S Second word H A I G E R N S 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.