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	• NEWS >> ATW Week of October 4, 2007 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of October 4, 2007… I’m Teej Jenkins. Our top story this week UN envoys meet with opposition and government leaders in Myanmar. TOP STORY-MYANMAR MYANMAR 22 degrees, 00 minutes north latitude 96 degrees, 05 minutes east longitude Hundreds of Buddhist monks remain in detention in Mayanmar following the largest challenge to its government since the military took power 19 years ago. Protesters numbering in the hundreds of thousands took to the streets in pro-democracy demonstrations. The military junta reacted with violent force, killing a reported nine people. Opposition leaders fear the death toll is much higher than reported. UN envoys met with opposition and government leaders in attempts to bring a peaceful resolution to the violence. World reaction has been strong as a military government known for ruling through force and intimidation called out its troops to fire into crowds of demonstrators. Observers doubt that efforts will be successful. Previous envoys have failed to bring reconciliation between the government and political opposition. A key to changing the junta’s behavior may be convincing China to bring pressure to the military rulers. China is Myanmar’s main trading partner. There is no sign that China would join international efforts to sanction the government. junta (n) ~a small group ruling a country, esp. immediately after a coup d'état and before a legally constituted government has been instituted. ATW Fact The United States is losing approximately 80,000 acres of wetlands each year or the area of a football field every nine minutes. Source: USA Today/Ducks Unlimited INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… n Aid efforts for Somalia continue n plans for North Korea move forward n and parliamentary elections in Ukraine show a turn in foreign policies. #2— UKRAINE 50 degrees, 26 minutes north latitude 30 degrees, 31 minutes east longitude Early returns in Parliamentary elections show a pro-western turn in Ukraine’s government this weekend. According to early exit polls, The Orange Revolution camp appeared to be holding a narrow margin of victory. Should polls hold true, Yulia Tymoshenko is favored to become the new prime minister, replacing incumbent Viktor Yanukovich. Yanukovich, however, is not conceding the election. Tymoshenko was one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution in 2004. Sunday, she claimed victory and predicted the formation of a new government within days. Tymoshenko also expressed fears that her opponent may try to falsify results. The Orange Revolution camp favors a pro-Western foreign policy and closer ties with the European Union. Something current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich’s party does not. Yanukovich advocated closer ties with Russia, even to the point of making Russia an official language of Ukraine. Both sides built their campaign for office on promises of a better life for all Ukrainians. Foreign policy (n) a policy pursued by a nation in its dealings with other nations, designed to achieve national objectives. #3— SIX-NATION TALKS (CHINA) 39 degrees, 55 minutes north 116 degrees, 25 minutes east Talks between China, the United States, Russia, Japan, along with North and South Korea broke for recess over the weekend so delegates could discuss a timetable and draft plan to disable North Korea’s nuclear facilities. The Six-Nation talks resumed later in the week. Under an earlier agreement North Korea pledged to stop its production of plutonium and allow international inspectors to confirm the shutdown. In return, North Korea began receiving some 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil. Progress in disarmament talks come as North and South Korea prepare to meet for a three-day summit. The meetings in Pyongyang will be only the second face-to-face meetings since the Korean Peninsula was divided in 1945. metric ton~(n.)~~ A unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds). #4— — SOMALIA AID 02 degrees, 04 minutes north 45 degrees, 22 minutes east The United Nations is increasingly concerned with the situation in Somalia fearing a famine will occur. Food prices have nearly doubled, the cereal harvest was the worst in 13 years and forecasts say the coming rain season will be disappointing. All of this and the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia is showing signs of collapse. Somalia is a country made up of many clans. Many of those are still not at peace. The transitional government, a United Nations effort, was installed in Mogadishu last December. However, insurgents have confined the government to several buildings in the capital while the rest of the country continues to suffer. The World Food Program is feeding 1.2 million people in Somalia, more than 15 percent of the population. clans (n) A division of a tribe tracing descent from a common ancestor. POP QUIZ #1 In our story about Myanmar, we told you the military junta took power… 1. 29 years ago 2. 9 years ago 3. 19 years ago And the correct answer is number three, the military junta took power in Myanmar 19 years ago. OLD CLUE # 1—LOCATION – MYANMAR Now its time for the answers to last week’s clues in the news. Find the location of our first clue and you get Mandalay, Myanmar. Protests worldwide continue in support of opposition groups in Myanmar. Rallies from Australia to the United States are calling for pressure on world leaders to take action against the military rulers of Myanmar. It is the largest challenge to military rule in that country since it took power some 19 years ago. Pro-democracy demonstrations gained strength with the country’s Buddhist monks took to the streets. The monks are revered in Myanmar’s culture and their followers called for changes in their country’s leadership. OLD CLUE # 2— GENERAL ASSEMBLY Unscramble the letters in our next clue and you get General Assembly, the annual meeting of the United Nations held each fall. Nearly 100 presidents and prime ministers from 91 member states came to New York City for the 62nd General Assembly last week. World leaders gathered to discuss a number of issues including global warming. The weeklong meeting allows world leaders an international forum to raise issues important to their countries and to offer their opinions on world affairs. OC #3 – BLACKWATER USA Research the role of our newsmaker Blackwater USA and you discover that it is a North Carolina-based security company providing security for diplomats and citizens in Iraq. The issue of private security companies operating in Iraq came under fire recently when Blackwater security guards opened fire in a Baghdad square killing at least 11 civilians. Congressional hearings into the actions of Blackwater employees begin this week. A report prepared for the hearings claims that Blackwater employees are reckless and have sought to cover up incidents sometimes with help from the State Department. The report raises questions about the wisdom of employing private security forces in Iraq. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history… October 4, 1957 The Soviet Union kicked off the “Space Age” with the launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. Sputnik remained in space until January 1958 when its orbit deteriorated and the spacecraft burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere. CHECK IT OUT INTRO Do you know what hydroponics means? Katie Sullivan visited a company called Fingers Lake Fresh to check it out! CHECK IT OUT (Katie) The Northeast is known for its cold winters. In most cases, the elements make farming in this region a seasonal opportunity. But when most farmer's fields are barren, the lettuce at Finger Lakes Fresh in Ithaca NY is in full bloom. They grow their crops year round in their greenhouse using what is known as hydroponics. (Dr. Albright) Basically, if you take the technical meaning, its growing plants without natural soil. So anything around the roots could be hydroponics. The more purist definition though might be to grow without anything around the roots but nutrient solution, not water, but nutrient solution. (Katie) This means all the crops are grown without soil, but there’s more to it than that. (Bob) Basically, we're controlling the environment so that the plants think everyday is the same. So we have a lot of computer and mechanical equipment that we work with so that the environment that the plant has in here is the same temperature, same amount of light, same ratio of minerals etc. everyday of the year. (Dr. Albright) Yes, these lights are what are called high pressure sodium, they're some of the most efficient lights and they’re here simply to give the plants the kind of light they need, oxygen is added to the water cause the plant roots have to breathe, they have to respire, (Katie) Controlling the environment makes for a very efficient process. (Patrick) What they did is they developed a way to grow lettuce that from the day it’s seeded to the day its harvested takes 31 days. In the greenhouse business if it’s growing in dirt it would be much longer. (Dr. Albright) We produce about 20 times more lettuce per year per square foot as they do in California, for instance. (Katie) This efficiency allows Finger Lakes Fresh to grow more crops in the same amount of space so its impact on the Earth is small. Also since they have no heavy farm equipment and the produce is grown and distributed locally, they don't burn a lot of fossil fuels which cuts down greatly on harmful emissions and greenhouse gases. ISN’T IT COOL Falling rocks injured her but Peruvian scientists nursed this sea lion back to health and returned her to the seas. Peru’s Paracas Bay is home to one of the largest sea lion colonies in the world. Zookeepers took her to deeper waters before turning her lose. As she jumped in she seemed to turn to say thanks for everything. ISSUE Recently the New England Patriots of the National Football League were caught cheating. They were caught videotaping an opponent’s defensive signals…a direct violation of NFL rules. Their punishment included fines and a loss of draft picks. Supporters of the penalties say any form of cheating should not be allowed and that people who cheat should be punished. They say that if you can’t follow the rules, you shouldn’t be allowed to play the game. But others wonder what the big deal is all about? They say cheating is accepted in sports… that stealing signs in baseball or spying on an opponent’s practice is just a way to get the upper hand in competition. They say that winning is the only thing and anything that will improve the chances of winning is fair game. Well, we would like to know what you think? “Is winning the only thing?” Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received nearly three hundred responses to our issue question, “Does the United States need a national service requirement?” The majority of you, 76 percent, say no, the United States does not need a national service requirement. 21 percent say yes, a national service requirement is a good idea. Just 3 percent are undecided. Many of you feel a national service requirement would do a lot of good. Kaylynn of West Henrietta, New York writes, “Everyone should have to do six month of service. Anyone who completes more… should be rewarded.” Joe D. of Pittsford, New York adds, “It will keep people off social services. It will make America better and stronger.” Josie S. of Big Bend, Wisconsin agrees and writes, “We would be helping (the) elderly, poor people, and people who need help. We would get a chance to help people in need.” The majority of you, however, feel a national service requirement is a bad idea. Kyle T. of Keene, New Hampshire writes, “I think people should be able to choose if they want to serve. Why make a requirement if people don’t want to do it.” Stephanie L. of Oconto Falls, Wisconsin adds, “The government shouldn’t be able to tell us what to do, it’s our life.” Lauren H. of Loudonville, New York thinks it would be hard to manage. Lauren writes, “It would be very hard to enforce and administer. I do not see how this could be fairly executed.” Bradley H. of Carlisle, Iowa adds, “…on top of homework, sports and music? It would be a pain to try and add volunteering… “ And finally, Casey K. of Onalaska, Wisconsin writes, “I think people should choose to volunteer. If you make them, they will not want to do more.” We look forward to your responses to our two latest questions: “Are contact sports too dangerous?” and “Is winning the only thing?” 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 Six-Nation Talks, we told you that North Korea is receiving how many metric tons of fuel oil… 1. 50,000 2. 500,000 3. 5,000 And the correct answer is number one, in return for shutting down their production of plutonium, North Korea will receive 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 39 degrees, 02 minutes north latitude 125 degrees, 45 minutes east longitude Our second clue is a fill-in-the-blank..it is two words. First Word I blank R blank blank L blank Second word M blank blank T blank blank G And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter clue…it is two words. First word… A I T N P K S A Second word… P E I E T R S D N 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. © 2007 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.