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CNN STUDENT NEWS for May 22, 2002

Aired May 22, 2002 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN STUDENT NEWS seen in schools around the world because learning never stops and neither does the news.

MICHAEL MCMANUS, CO-HOST: CNN STUDENT NEWS kicks off for Wednesday. First, President Bush heads to Europe to bring his vision of a new world order into "Focus." Then, first it was music, now it's movies. We'll tell you how the Internet is raising the interest of Hollywood. From the glare of L.A. to a spotlight on safety, we take a look at post-9/11 security in airports. Then how some graduating students are looking for and finding jobs.

Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Michael McManus. Glad you could join us.

U.S. President Bush begins his six-day European tour today. On his agenda: Germany, France, Russia and Italy. A number of demonstrations are being planned around Mr. Bush's trip. Protestors in Berlin have already taken to the streets. Many groups say he's simply not welcome. These include environmentalists, communists and anti-globalists.

Not everyone in Europe, however, shares that feeling. In fact, in some regards Europe and the U.S. are closer than ever. Case in point, Russia.

CNN's John King reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The strategic arms treaty with Russia is the signature moment of the trip. It's meaning well beyond slashing nuclear arsenals by two- thirds over the next decade.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: The world's GEO politics have changed. It's not East versus West anymore, it is the world versus terrorists. And Russia has and can play a very significant role in winning that war against terrorists.

KING: Germany is stop one, followed by Russia, France and Italy. The war on terror and how a new role for Russia will change the face and mission of the NATO alliance the major themes. It will be the fifth meeting between President's Bush and Putin. The arms control treaty a chance for Mr. Bush to rebut critics who thought he emerged from the first meeting overly optimistic.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was able to get a sense of his soul.

KING: The relationship still has its pressure points. Russia remains wary of the Bush Missile Defense Plan. The United States says Mr. Putin is too quick to crack down on dissent in the press and the security of Russian nuclear stockpiles is a major question mark.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), ARMED SERVICES CHAIRMAN: The newest threat we face which is a terrorist threat and the possibility that a terrorist could get their hands on a nuclear weapon.

KING: But the White House also sees immediate benefits as U.S.- Russia relations enter a new chapter. Fewer nuclear warheads means cost savings for an administration trying to reshape the military to battle new enemies. And the Bush team sees an economic benefit in closer ties, predicting direct U.S. investment in Russia, about $6 billion last year, will more than triple over the next year or so.

DON EVANS, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: They've come a long way in a relatively short period of time to encourage investment and encourage American businesses to look hard at the Russian economy. The opportunity is there.

KING: Improving U.S.-Russia relations was a Bush priority before September 11 but took on all the more meaning and urgency from that point forward.

(on camera): But as the two presidents celebrate the arms treaty and discuss future cooperation in the war on terrorism, Mr. Bush also will lodge a complaint. Urging Russia to stop weapons sales to Iran the United States believe could ultimately threaten U.S. forces in the region.

John King, CNN, at the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: Residents in Sierra Leone are celebrating. They're experiencing new hopes for peace now that the man they chose for president has been sworn into office. Incumbent President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah won an overwhelming majority of the vote last week. This was the West African country's first election since a civil war in the 1990s which killed 50,000 people. The expectations are high for the president and for peace.

But as CNN's Ben Wedeman reports, Mr. Kabbah has his work cut out for him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Celebration in Freetown following the announcement of the election victory of incumbent President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. Supporters dangled bags of palm oil, palm wine and peppers, symbols of prosperity and to count out Kabbah's triumph.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A very big victory, a very big victory. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

WEDEMAN: Seventy percent, that's how much Kabbah won by in Sierra Leone's first presidential vote since 1996. His Sierra Leone People's Party also won 83 out of 112 parliamentary seats.

Kabbah's supporters held little back...

(CROWD SHOUTING)

WEDEMAN: ... in an unrestrained outpouring of enthusiasm and triumph.

The president is credited with holding the country together through one of Africa's most brutal civil wars. The war is over, but the people of this ravaged impoverished country are hungry for a better life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Need a job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Developmental (ph) jobs unless you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) beyond the lights for the people in Sierra Leone.

WEDEMAN (on camera): So what do you want the new president to do for your people, for your children?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, we need the basic education. Secondly, we need correct people, right people in the right places, not, what should I say, square pegs in round holes.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): It will be very difficult, however, to jump start this country.

Ernest Koroma of the All People's Congress Party came in second with 22 percent of the vote. He claims there were irregularities in the election but has congratulated Kabbah on his victory. The party of the rebels, the Revolutionary United Front, scored only 1.7 percent of the presidential vote. One man has a blunt warning if the former rebels resume their war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And whoever (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and happens to go back into the bush we also cut his neck, his tongue, his boots (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

WEDEMAN (on camera): For President Kabbah, this, winning the election, was the easy part. It's going to be a whole different thing living up to his people's expectations.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Freetown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: The excitement of the digital revolution is causing a major headache for the movie and recording industries. After a long court battle with music makers and copyright holders, the Internet file swapping service Napster went offline last year to retool itself into a fee-based service, and it may end up filing for bankruptcy protection.

Well now film executives are stepping up to the plate trying to put an end to movie downloading.

Bruce Francis has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

"JOSH": "The Return of the Jedi," "Saving Private Ryan," "Crouching Tiger" maybe, "Memento."

BRUCE FRANCIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This 23-year-old has a memento from one of his sessions on the Net. Not just any memento, a complete copy of the Oscar nominated film downloaded for free. "Josh," as we'll call him, has many mementoes.

"JOSH": I found screeners of movies that before they were out. If I can get on a good streak then I can pull down about five movies a day.

FRANCIS (on camera): Welcome to Hollywood's worst nightmare. Studio executives say that the downloading of films will ruin the movie industry. Meanwhile, fans of downloading say that Hollywood's missing out on an opportunity to capture a new audience in a new way. And that audience is growing.

ANDREW FRANK, CONSULTANT, VIANT: And there's "Lord of the Rings."

FRANCIS (voice-over): Andrew Frank is an analyst for Viant, a technology consulting firm. He says that as many as half a million movies are downloaded every day, including those in current release like "Spider-Man."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cheese!

FRANK: The potential threat is fairly large, as high speed connections become more prevalent and as the services become easier and more difficult to stop.

FRANCIS: And movie studios, including those owned by CNN parent AOL Time Warner, are doing everything they can to stop them, including a lawsuit to shut down file trading networks like Morpheus. Many of the same companies all but crushed Napster's music trading. So far, their own fee-based alternatives for music haven't caught on the same way.

Hollywood isn't just blaming the downloaders. They're lashing out at technology companies like Intel, whose chips run the PCs that make it all happen.

MICHAEL EISNER, CHAIRMAN & CEO, WALT DISNEY COMPANY: It's very hard to negotiate with an industry whose growth, they think, their short-term growth is dependent on pirated content.

LES VADESZ, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, INTEL: The media industry will try to make that personal computer nothing more than a DVD player, an expensive DVD player or a CD player and maybe not at that.

FRANCIS: Both have a point. After a dismal year, the PC industry has targeted online entertainment as a killer act.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see where this family's going, Hollywood.

FRANCIS: But Hollywood has a history of fighting new technologies, most notably, the videocassette. The studio tried to sue that technology out of existence only to lean on it as a huge source of profits years later. As for "Josh," he's gotten a free taste of a world that he wants to know more about.

"JOSH": It just kind of piques my interest. I've kind of gotten more into movies because of this. I don't think my grandma is going to start downloading movies, you know, on her old machine. If you have some, you know, some tech know how, then, yes. I mean and once you start doing it, it gets easier and easier. It was just kind of funny, at the bottom it would say property of Columbia TriStar every 10 minutes. And I'm like no, it's not. Now I have it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a strange fate that you suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing.

FRANCIS: A little thing that experts say is growing every day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: Art and technology aren't the only signs of modern convergence, how about high tech medicine. How do you reach your doctor in an emergency? Well some doctors in Hong Kong are just a mouse click away.

Phil O'Sullivan has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Neurosurgeons working to remove a tumor from a patient's brain. During surgery, life is reduced to a series of constantly monitored numbers, numbers representing survival.

Across the hall in the intensive care unit, Kasmi (ph) Dillon is recovering from the removal of a cancerous tumor from his brain. He's still seriously ill. And those same life indicating numbers remain under close scrutiny.

JOHN KWOK, NEUROSURGEON: It is vital that we need to know exactly minute to minute and second to second the well being of the patient here.

O'SULLIVAN: Kasmi's (ph) recovery hasn't gone smoothly. Soon after his operation, doctors at his bedside noticed he was in trouble. The surgeon wasn't on the ward to give advice, but an Internet connection soon told him all he needed to know.

KWOK: In that situation, I was alerted and immediate pick up from the display from the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) monitoring device that give me the idea that he is in soplicimic (ph) shock. So I instructed the doctors here to immediately institute anti-biotic treatment and also resuscitation.

O'SULLIVAN: John Kwok and IT consultants at Hong Kong's Kwong Wha Hospital work together so patients like Kasmi (ph) could be monitored anytime, any place via the net. With a laptop and a browser, the vital signs of up to 8 patients in intensive care lie only a few clicks away.

KWOK: Any browser, any access point with the Internet, I can know my patients. Even miles away overseas, say for instance I'm in Japan or in America, in order to see the patient, I still can see them through the Internet. It's no problem.

O'SULLIVAN: And in emergencies, surgeons can see the results of initial tests and treatment can begin even before the doctor has reached the patient's bedside.

In life and death situations where minutes make all the difference, the Internet saves crucial time and gives doctors valuable peace of mind.

KWOK: I use this device at home thus far. I'm living quite far from hospital. While I finish operation always worries about my patients, I want to see the patients well being immediately after operation. And actually I'm monitoring the patient at home using the -- this new technology.

O'SULLIVAN: IT consultants who work on information being passed over the Internet recognize that it's wide use has implications for patient confidentiality.

ANDREW MALLARD, IT CONSULTANT: We believe it's extremely secure. Our system, we've tested is that we've had people trying to access it and are not able to. Even within the hospital, IT people cannot access our departmental servers because we have control over that.

So it's extremely secure, extremely secure.

O'SULLIVAN: In the field of neurosurgery, patient conditions can change quickly. Kasmi (ph) Dillon can take some comfort from the thought that even though his doctor may not always be by his side, the Internet now means he is never far away.

KWOK: I feel that I'm in real contact with my patients, you know. And I can deliver the best self for my care to them. And I think it's one of the way and can improve healthcare and also the doctor -- bringing the doctor and patient relationship even much closer.

O'SULLIVAN: Phil O'Sullivan, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is CNN STUDENT NEWS "Perspectives."

MCMANUS: Biological warfare is now a big concern for many. You may not know but this concern goes way back. In 1951, the Centers for Disease Control, or the CDC, established the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Now this program would serve as an early warning system for a biological attack. Today, you're going to meet one of their scientists.

CNN's Deanna Morowski spoke with her about curbing the threat of global epidemics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LORNA THORPE, EPIDEMIOLOGIST: My name is Lorna Thorpe and I'm an epidemiologist, what a lot of people call disease detective. And what I do mostly is identify why diseases move the way they do, where they exist and try to figure out how we can alter the course of epidemics.

When we arrive somewhere, the first thing that we try to do is determine what is the problem. We try to identify if there's been a spike in cases, a sudden increase or if there's been a slow increase over time. Looking back to try to get a sense of, you know, what's the norm and then is -- has something changed, it's the first step.

Then what we often do after that is try as clearly as possible to describe the problem. And that takes a lot of field investigation and work and trying to map out in a sense of who, where, what, how, how the disease has perhaps risen over time and where it exists. Once we've described the current state of an epidemic or a disease, we try to identify factors that might be associated with those increases, who's getting it and why.

A typical day for us I think varies a lot depending on whether we're in the field or we're in our headquarters. In the field we are usually armed with our laptop, we're working with the local people who are involved with the disease somehow. It may be a hospital, it may be health care providers in another setting or the local government, and we're often collecting data in the field. So a typical day in the field might be a lot of looking through medical charts, developing questionnaires and asking people about their recent experiences or entering the data into our laptops, but it's a lot of amassing or collecting information.

In Atlanta when we get back, a lot of our work is sort of analyzing and synthesizing that data. It does deal a lot with numbers and sitting at a computer and analyzing data, but we don't stray far from what question we're trying to answer.

I guess you could call it a battle between ourselves and the diseases or microbes that we're working with. They will find ways to spread throughout populations and we're trying to find ways to stop them. With HIV, we find over and over again that it's a very, very smart bug and it's infected a lot of people worldwide. So we can't only rely on the -- on drugs or the fact that people will change behaviors by themselves, we've really got to look and figure out how we can introduce societal changes, how we can introduce any kind of changes to be smarter than HIV.

The level of danger depends on what disease you're working with and in what setting. My most recent work has been with tuberculosis, for example, and tuberculosis is an airborne disease that one can contract when around people who are sick, actively sick with TB or tuberculosis. Protections that we might take would be to wear a protective mask over our face, making sure that the institutions that we're working with are using the proper what we call institutional checks like keeping windows open if it's a warm, hot tropical area, making sure the air flow in rooms is proper, making sure patients who are infectious are separated from patients who are not infectious. And if we can do as much as possible at the local level to minimize risk to anybody while minimizing risk to ourselves.

I was called to respond to September 11 attack. We were asked to fly up to New York, before planes were actually flying, to conduct surveillance around Manhattan and the other four boroughs to see if there were any unusual disease syndromes that came out of the attack. So we were flown up immediately and spread out across the city in different hospitals in the emergency rooms. Two persons per hospital and we were on twelve hour shifts. And the emergency room collecting information on everybody who came in, working very hard for the -- for the two weeks immediately after the attack trying to see if there is possible biological agents that were involved in the attack or if any strange syndromes came out of the fact that the towers fell.

I think over time the CDC, the government as well as academic institutions and hospitals are going to need epidemiologists more in areas like bioterrorism surveillance and then also in areas where new diseases are cropping up. There's a whole new plethora of what we call emerging diseases. These include things like Hantavirus and Ebola Virus. The CDC tends to respond and be most active in the areas of greatest need. So if we see a rise in chronic diseases, like heart disease or cancer, you'll see more of our work and more availability for epidemiologists in those areas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: Is a career in medical science not necessarily your thing? Have you considered airport security? More than 30,000 screeners will be needed at U.S. airports and the federal government is giving some hardcore training to the people doing the hiring.

Patty Davis gives us an exclusive behind the scenes look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New airport security chiefs on the job just weeks in the trenches with screeners observing the latest in post-9/11 airport security.

MICHAEL AGUILAR, FEDERAL SECURITY INSTRUCTOR: I think the challenge would be to make sure that security and passenger satisfaction complement each other.

DAVIS: This is boot camp at Baltimore-Washington International Airport where the federal government is testing new and improved airport security. The changes you see here could soon be coming to an airport near you.

HANS MILLER, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: You're probably aware there've been a lot of new stories about machines being unplugged and electrical power failing. We've taken care of that issue here at our test site by redoing the electrical systems.

DAVIS: There are also new X-ray machines for shoes, helping move nearly 60 percent more passengers through screening every hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When somebody has shoes that need to be -- set off the warning alarm, a runner brings them to this machine. It really cuts down on the wait time for everybody.

DAVIS: Passengers who set off metal detectors are brought to these glass enclosed areas for rechecking, no longer holding up the line. As for those old blue bins for keys and cell phones that used to tip over in the screening machine, replaced by flat, clear bins. And friendliness is a top priority.

KURT KRAUSE, (ph): It's important to deliver the proper image. And an image is security, but it's also customer service.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we had this customer coming through the line saying, I'm late, I'm going to miss my plane.

DAVIS: The changes, which have cut waiting times in half, are the brainchild of business executives and consultants on loan to the new Transportation Security Administration.

(on camera): Just before the federal government took over airport security in February, undercover investigators found major breaches. Nearly half the time, the screeners didn't catch prohibited items, things with sharp edges, knives and even guns.

(voice-over): Now the challenge: to make screening effective not just efficient. The new security chiefs will be judged on performance not popularity.

Patty Davis, CNN, Washington

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: If you're still sorting out your career options, you are not alone. Even college seniors can be nervous about hitting the job trail. Where do you start?

Student Bureau has some tips.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AIXA DIAZ, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): It's that time of year, and for many students graduations are a cause for celebration. But with the uncertain economy and slowdown in the job market, some students are more worried than they are relieved.

SCOTT BRANDWEIN, COLLEGE SENIOR: You know but after September 11 it's been much tougher to get a job.

DIAZ: And because finding a job can be hard enough, many schools have career counselors who advise students on every step of the job search.

JOYCE ROGERS, BOSTON UNIVERSITY CAREER COUNSELOR: The students need to research companies. They need to choose a geographic location in which they want to work and then they need to research companies.

DIAZ: And interning at those companies while in school will be a valuable way to gain experience and make connections.

ROGERS: Every internship that you have, every professor that teaches a course, every person that you meet should always be kept in mind as a network contact.

DIAZ: Attending job fairs is one way to both research and network at the same time.

(on camera): Once you know where you want to work and what company you want to work for, your next step is preparing the one thing that will get your foot in the door, your resume.

(voice-over): I put my own resume under the magnifying glass and picked up some basic, yet important tips. Resumes should be concise and no longer than one page. They should highlight your strengths and include any internships or related work experience. The more diverse your skills and activities the better. But no matter how you do your resume, make sure it is clear.

AURORA KRAUSE, RESUME SPECIALIST: If you have a sloppy resume, you're going to go into the trash pile.

DIAZ: But today, no matter how good your resume is, finding a job in fields like communication can be a long and difficult process.

BRANDWEIN: Made, you know, a lot of tapes and a lot of resumes. I'm trying to send out to 15 to 20 people even before I graduate here.

DIAZ: However, students in medical fields are having a better time finding a job.

MONICA ARRIGO, COLLEGE SENIOR: Now as I'm in the process, I'm realizing that I am lucky, I will potentially have the pick of a few jobs which I think is best for me.

DIAZ: And whether you find a job right after graduation or not, the important thing is to be persistent and not give up.

ROGERS: The jobs are out there. They are difficult to find, but they can be found. And we'll do everything we can to help. They can find a job.

DIAZ: Aixa Diaz, CNN Student Bureau, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CNN STUDENT NEWS starting June 17 new airtime 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time and 1:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

"Where in the World" ceded to the British in 1841, now a special administrative region of China, is a free port? Can you name this city? Hong Kong, China.

MCMANUS: OK that does it for the broadcast. In the meantime, head up CNNSTUDENTNEWS.com. I'm Michael McManus. We'll see you tomorrow.

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