Assignment The World; 5/20/93 Behind the Scenes

Hi and welcome to a sign of the world for the week of May 20th 1993 I'm Jenny Batchelor. Our top story a peace plan rejected Serbian voters in Bosnia-Herzegovina went to the polls this past weekend and as expected overwhelmingly rejected the plant's own peace plan. Although the leader of the Serbian forces in Bosnia Radovan Karadzic had signed the peace agreement in Greece two weeks ago his support hinged on Serbs voting their approval for the plan in a two day referendum. Serbs decisively vetoed the measure setting the stage for continued fighting that and so one peace plan called for the former Yugoslavian Republic of Bosnia to be divided into 10 self-governing states organized roughly by ethnic groups but Serbs rejected the plan because it called for Serbian territories to not be connected to one another. Also Serbs now control nearly 70 percent of Bosnia. The plan would give them just over 40 percent of the land. Bosnia civil war has raged for more than a year now sparked by a vote to dissolve the communist Yugoslavia and create an independent state. Serbia wants to expand its former boundaries because it did

not include much of the wealthy and prosperous parts of the former Yugoslavia. Thirty nine years ago this week May 17th 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against school segregation known as Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka. The case involved a black railroad worker suing the Topeka Kansas Board of Education for not allowing his daughter to attend an all white school near her home. The court ruled unanimously that segregated schools deprived minorities of equal educational opportunity. The hesitation on the part of European countries and the U.S. to get involved in the Bosnian conflict has prompted the Serbs to become even more bold in their demands. On Tuesday Serbs called for a mass population transfer of Muslims from eastern Bosnia giving Serbians control of that part of the country. President Clinton had put off making a decision regarding military intervention in Bosnia until after the Serbian vote on the peace plan. Clinton had said he would consider airstrikes against Serbian artillery positions or lifting an arms embargo to allow Muslims in

Bosnia to get weapons but no definite plans have been announced. The U.S. is also waiting for support from European countries who are reluctant to engage in military action. A U.N. Security Council meeting scheduled for Friday has been postponed because the U.S. refuses to attend. In France a masked gunman with sticks of dynamite strapped to his body held a nursery school class hostage for nearly 48 hours last week and he demanded more than 18 million dollars in ransom. Police convinced the gunman Eric Schmidt to release most of the children throughout the ordeal. But on Sunday when the gunman apparently fell asleep police stormed the classroom and shot Schmidt six remaining children and their teacher were unharmed but leaves the rest of Dr. Jack Kevorkian outside Detroit Michigan Sunday following the suicide of a terminally ill cancer patient. It was the 16th time in three years that Dr. Kevorkian either witnessed or assisted in the suicide of a terminally ill patient. KEVORKIAN firmly believes a physician has the right to help a terminally ill person end their

life if the patient requests it. While he did not assist the suicide on Sunday he was present and acted despite a recently passed Michigan law that prohibits helping someone end their life. A lawyer claims his client did nothing wrong because it is not against the law to be present when someone takes their life and says he will go on a hunger strike if he is put in prison. Briefly In other news the Clinton administration is considering establishing a review board to monitor prescription drug prices. Drug companies stand to make significant profit should the U.S. adopt a national health care plan. Fierce fighting continues in Afghanistan despite a peace agreement signed two months ago. At least 700 people have died in the latest fighting. The country has been split since the communist government fell one year ago. And doctors in California inserted an artificial pancreas into a diabetic patient last week. The transplant consisted of healthy cells encased in bubbles of seaweed material. If successful the treatment could help some of the nation's 400000 diabetics who depend on daily insulin shots to stay alive.

It's time now for the answers to last week's clues in the news. Unscramble our first clue and you get Denmark referendum. Danish voters turned out in large numbers Tuesday and approved the Maastricht Treaty. The treaty would create a common currency central bank and common foreign policy among the 12 European countries who approve it. Denmark is the 11th country to vote on the agreement the 12th Great Britain postponed its vote pending the outcome in Denmark. If all 12 countries ratify the treaty it would take effect in full effect by 1999. The location of our second clue is Port au Prince Haiti. The United States and several allied countries have been negotiating in recent weeks to bring about the return of Haiti's elected president John Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was ousted from office more than a year ago in a military coup. Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries. The U.S. and others are considering sending an international police force to oversee the transition of Aristide's return to office and fill in the blanks of our third clue and you get a new Israeli president became Israel's seventh president last

Thursday. His uncle was the first Israel's president as largely a ceremonial position with a foreign minister and prime minister holding the significant power in Israel. Time now for our first pop quiz in a story about the vote by Serbians over the weekend we told you that the Serbs voted to. Dissolve the old Yugoslavia. Reject the fat's own peace plan. Support a cease fire in Bosnia. The correct answer is number two. The Serbs rejected the Vance Owen peace plan. This is our last show for the school year. Before we bid you goodbye for the summer we would like to take the time to introduce you to the people who helped make assignment the world possible. Wired to Remus has more. When you watch assignment the world you can see Jenny Bachus what you can't see you know the people behind the camera. Production assistants engineers volunteers writers and a director who all work together to bring you every week.

When Jenny says that's it for this week's show from all of us here to side with the world I'm Jenny Bachus We'll see you next week. It is the completion of a week's worth of work by a dedicated group of people. Share the writing duties for every day they read newspapers and news magazines and watch television news programs to keep up with what's happening in the world. We receive on the average of fifteen hundred letters a week in response to our issue questions. Every letter is read by one of our volunteers who choose the best examples of each week's letter they send 50 to 60 letters a wake up to Tracy McFadden a college intern for AGW. She writes the weekly mailbag and this week in world history segment producer director John overland on Wednesday he edits the news wanted for each story and supervises the recording of the world history and news raves using the golden tones of well me the Remus. On Thursday mornings the number of people involved increases to folks while

Valerie updates the teleprompter goes over the script one last time. Production assistants get the satin studio. There are three camera operators each getting a different shot of the teleprompter operator who follows the script as he reads it and the floor manager whose main job is to maintain communications between the talent and director during the taping of a sign of the world. Downstairs in sub control the assistant director checks the character generator a computerized typewriter that prints out the clues in the quizzes and letters and the audio engineer is responsible for all the things you hear during the program. Jenny's microphone. All the carts and the on location video look like this. The engineer is responsible for the video tape using the program in addition to rolling the news footage for each story. He also must be sure to record the program for later playback the video engineer sets up the camera.

Each camera must be set up to look exactly like the other cameras in terms of color and intensity. Without cameras it would sound like this fire agreement in Bosnia just after the when everything is ready. JOHN sits down to direct the show. It's time to put all the parts of the audio the video the script and Jenny together. All told almost 20 people are involved in the production of a sign of the world without their work. It wouldn't be possible. I'm of the world. I'm wired to refuse. 66 years ago this week May 20th 1927 Lindbergh's nonstop flight to Paris began. Charles Limburg an American aviator was the first person to successfully make the nonstop flight alone flying in his plane name the Spirit of St. Louis. He took off from Roosevelt Field near New York City at 7:52 a.m. and landed at little field near Paris at 521 p.m. New York time the next day. More than 36 hundred miles in thirty three and a half hours we received over seventeen hundred letters in response to our last issue question should this school year be

lengthened. The majority of 81 percent said no you wouldn't propose a change in the school year. Seventeen percent of you felt that yes you would propose a change 2 percent and you were undecided. Mark the Chobani from Baldwinsville Maryland felt he wouldn't propose a change in rights if the school year was lengthened. Kids wouldn't get a chance to participate in outdoor activities or go on vacations with their parents. From Baltimore Maryland writes learning should not always take place in the classroom but more in the real world. Brandy Smith from Princeton Oregon agrees and writes There is nothing wrong with acquiring more education. But a kid has to be allowed to have some fun Coreen character from Fallston Maryland writes kids simply need to rest from the pressures and stress of school. Aaron Mayer from New Milford Connecticut writes Many Problems will arise if the school year is any longer. Teachers will want more money and students will get bored causing them to drop out. But others if you felt that you would propose a change in the school calendar. Steven Fox from Fargo North Dakota writes schools should

be all year round because kids do forget what they have learned over the summer vacation from Marshfield Wisconsin holds the opinion that with a longer school calendar we will learn everything we need to know in order to attend college much earlier. We enjoyed reading all of your letters this year. By our calculation you've sent us at least 40000 pieces of mail this year in response to our weekly issue question. If you have not received your assignment the world press card and would like one you can write to us over the summer by sending us a stamped self-addressed envelope our address once again is a sign at the world post office box 21 Rochester New York 1 4 6 0 1. Since this is the last show of the season we thought we'd give you some stories to watch for over the summer. These are some of the new stories we think will be significant over the next three months. President Clinton nominates a Supreme Court justice. The group of seven leading industrialized countries meets in Tokyo in July. The president's Task Force on National Health Care Reform chaired by Hillary Rodham Clinton announces its recommendations continue

developments in the war in Bosnia. The proposed lifting of the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military developments in South Africa as it writes a new constitution and prepares for free elections next year. Continued peace talks in the Middle East involving establishing a homeland for Palestinians. Supreme Court decisions on a number of cases by the end of June. Talks between the U.S. and communist North Korea regarding signing a nuclear weapons treaty. Congressional developments on Clinton's proposed tax plan to cut the deficit and the civil war in Afghanistan. We hope you'll keep reading newspapers and newsmagazines and tuning into radio and television newscasts over the summer to keep up to date with news developments around the world. Time now for our second pop quiz. You know a story about the vote in Denmark regarding the Maastricht Treaty. We told you that if approved the treaty would do what for the countries who signed it provide a common currency and foreign policy. Single government. Common Foreign Ministry.

The correct answer is number one you would provide a common currency in foreign policy. Finally the world's population of Cheetos has dropped from more than 100000 to fewer than 12000 today native to Africa and the cheetah can run up to 70 miles an hour. But farmers and poachers have threatened the cheetah with extinction now thanks to the efforts of two transplanted Americans Laurie Marker Krauss and her husband David. The cheetah maybe saved their suggestion their grouses encourage farmers to mix in hard kicking donkeys with their cattle to discourage cheetah attacks. And that's our show for this week and for the school year. Thanks for watching. We hope each of you as a wonderful summer for all of us here at assignment the world I'm Jenny Batchelor. We'll be back in September.