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CNN STUDENT NEWS for May 30th, 2002

Aired May 30, 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.

SUSAN FREIDMAN, CO-HOST: CNN STUDENT NEWS gets going with a look at the evolving relationship between Europe and Russia. Politics and pop culture come into "Focus" as we follow Bono on his African tour. Later, we will showcase the science of studying salamanders as well as the science and art of dance.

It's Thursday, May 30, and this is CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Susan Freidman. Thanks for joining us.

The Russian economy gets a huge boost as the European Union designates it a free market. It's an important step forward in Russia's attempt to gain better access to global markets and to eventually join the World Trade Organization. Russia's the largest world economy still outside the WTO. Many people see great promise in Wednesday's concession which comes one day after NATO accepted Russia as a limited partner.

Nevertheless, as CNN's Matthew Chance reports, some touchy issues remain between the EU and Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Officials of the EU and Russia insist their relations have never been better. The free market designation gives Moscow more than even Washington has been prepared to offer. This is a summit where difficult issues, like EU expansion, are also hammered out, hence the tiny and impoverished Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad becoming an obscure flash point.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): The resolution of the Kaliningrad problem affects the vital interests of millions of Russian people. We can say without any exaggeration that our relations with the European Union will largely depend on how the transit of people and cargoes between the Kaliningrad region and Russia is resolved. This would be the litmus paper of our relations with the EU.

CHANCE: Sandwiched between the soon-to-be EU states of Poland and Lithuania, Russia wants the people of Kaliningrad to continue to be allowed to travel between the enclave and the main Russian Republic without European visas. The issue is politically sensitive here and seen by many ordinary Russians as European discrimination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They don't want us to travel to Europe freely because people in Russia are still poor and Western people have much better lives so the authorities want to make sure us Russians don't all flee for a better life in Europe.

CHANCE: EU diplomats say they've proposed a package of measures to solve the problem but that their security will not be compromised.

JAVIER SOLANA, EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: Now we have all to be very concerned about our external borders, in particular of these times (ph), and therefore the control that has to be placed has to be efficient (ph). That doesn't want or that doesn't mean that we want to complicate the life of citizens, but sometimes security obliged to complicate a little bit the life of our citizens and the fellow citizens of other countries.

CHANCE: All this tension is in stark contrast to recent less abrasive events like the meetings here between the U.S. and Russian presidents last week. There Vladimir Putin was hailed as an ally and a friend. Diplomats say he is viewed as that in the EU as well. Full market economy status is evidence of that. But there are just, though, more practical issues they say here to be resolved.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: After years of fighting and accumulating weapons, the people of Afghanistan are now dealing with the pressing issue of security. One by one Afghans are laying down their guns as part of a disarmament deal brokered by the country's interim government. However, they're doing so with much reluctance and an overwhelming sense of vulnerability.

CNN's Anderson Cooper has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): General Abdul Rahman (ph), an Afghan commander, is about to ask a group of fighters to do what was once unthinkable here. He wants them to give up their guns.

"You rescued our country from invasion," he tells them. "First by Russians, then by terrorists. Now it's time to store away your weapons."

For four months now, the interim administration of Afghanistan has been trying to ensure stability and security by disarming the heavily armed population of this nation. After 23 years of bloodshed and bullets, garrisons and guns, no one could even guess how many weapons there even are.

"This gun looks small," this man says, "but it's killed a lot of Taliban. It's a very good gun."

"When you fire this rocket," he says, "it shakes the world."

Many Afghans are proud of their guns but weary of war. Thirty- three-year-old Abdul Kaleel (ph) says he's fought most of his life.

"Our country is secure," he says. "What need do we now have of our weapons?"

"You see these mujahadeen," General Rahman (ph) says, "they're bringing their weapons voluntarily. We hope that throughout all Afghanistan we can persuade and encourage all people to turn in their weapons."

Today, some 300 weapons are taken, registered, then stored.

(on camera): The interim administration here says they've disarmed the population in at least seven of Afghanistan's 30 provinces. Exactly what that means, however, is very difficult to tell. Even if a person hands over one weapon, in Afghanistan it is not uncommon for them to have several more weapons hidden at home.

(voice-over): So the administration here says it's ready to take more drastic measures.

"First we voluntarily collect the guns," General Rahman (ph) says. "After that, anyone found with a gun will be disarmed and that man will be punished."

There has already been bloodshed. This anti-aircraft missile was found buried in the ground. When its owners resisted its confiscation, one was killed; two others arrested. These men have an incentive to turn over their guns. They want to be part of Afghanistan's new army. Give up a gun, they hope to get a job. Besides, they say, in Afghanistan more weapons can always be found.

"Have you seen a knife? Give me a knife," this man says. "At the beginning of our jihad we killed our enemies with this weapon and we captured their guns. Anyone who invades are country again, we'll kill them the same way."

Even if individuals give up their guns, many warlords will not. They have private armies, personal agendas. The problem is complex, the equation simple. In a lawless land, a gun equals power. And that is something many Afghans are unwilling to surrender.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: In "Focus" today, Irish rock star Bono and his goodwill tour through Africa. The U2 front man is traveling with a group, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and comedian Chris Tucker. Yesterday they made a stop in Ethiopia. While there, Bono addressed delegates at an annual meeting of the African Development Bank. He urged them to put up more cash for development and debt relief. On Tuesday, the group made a stop in Uganda.

Daryn Kagan has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's actually a school holiday here in Uganda, but the children of Kitzinbiri (ph) primary school came anyway to give a warm welcome to Bono and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

PAUL O'NEILL, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: Good morning.

KAGAN: These the lucky kids because they go to school. Not every child in Uganda can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you do mathematics?

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: Yes.

O'NEILL: Somebody tell me...

BONO, SINGER: Who's the best?

O'NEILL: Yes, who's the best in mathematics?

BONO: Who is the best? Who's good at math? Who likes it? Who likes it?

O'NEILL: He likes mathematics.

BONO: There you go. Well, one day, if you are very good, when you grow up (ph), then this could happen.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.

BONO: And if you can't, this might happen, which is even worse.

O'NEILL: Stand up.

KAGAN (on camera): We wanted to give you a look at where kids in Uganda go to school. One-hundred-twenty-one students pack their way into this classroom with the dirt floors and the tin roof. They're ages 8 through 11, and those 121 students share only two teachers. And yet, for that limited educational opportunity, the kids here are willing to make incredible sacrifices.

BONO: These kids come, they miss their lunch, OK. It would cost, I think it's $1 for per term to get those kids a lunch, something to eat in the day. They're not eating. They can't afford to eat. They're going hungry to learn. These kids are going hungry to learn. These kids are learning under trees, the youngest of them, while the oldest avail of their cancellation classrooms. So we win, we lose. It's kind of frustrating. KAGAN (voice-over): But there is progress in this village. Down the dirt road from the school, there is now a well that delivers clean water.

O'NEILL: It looks like, for a fairly small amount of money, like maybe $25 million or $30 million, most of the people, especially the people in rural Uganda, which is 85 percent of the population, could have water very fast.

KAGAN: And the clean water is key in raising healthy babies and children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're weighing this baby.

(CROSSTALK)

O'NEILL: Can I ask you...

BONO: Do you think we could weigh the secretary in the same fashion?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think so. It's not -- it doesn't go high enough.

KAGAN: Bono and O'Neill's tour gains in popularity. And the gang of media grows as we move from country to country here in Africa. One thing that remains consistent: warm greetings and warm farewells.

In Wakisa (ph) district (ph), Uganda, Daryn Kagan, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

FREIDMAN: Well just like Bono, many of us will be hitting the road pretty soon. Not everyone can take a goodwill tour of Africa, but chances are we'll be heading off to some other great destination for our summer vacation.

Patty Davis tells us what we could experience on our venture out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIE STALLARD, TRAVELER: Are those your music CDs?

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a summer ritual, vacation. But this year, Christie Stallard, her 5-year-old son and her boyfriend have chosen not to fly from Washington, D.C. to Connecticut. They're making the five to six hour trek by car instead.

STALLARD: Drive versus fly, for me it's the convenience of driving, putting all the stuff into the car and the hassle of going to the airport, waiting in lines, packing your stuff and checking it all.

DAVIS: Those who do choose to fly this summer are likely to see delays.

DAVID STEMPLER, AIR TRAVELERS ASSOCIATION: I think the word for the summer is probably delay. And what we're telling our passengers is prepare for the worst and just hope for the best.

DAVIS: While the number of passengers is still 10 percent below pre-September 11 levels, the FAA says the number of flights has rebounded.

JANE GARVEY, FAA ADMINISTRATION: Some of the busier hubs like Chicago and Dallas, we're seeing Atlanta, we're seeing at certain times of the day certain days of the week the numbers are even higher than last year's.

DAVIS: Longer lines and longer waits are predicted at airports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have your tickets ready, please. Right this way.

DAVIS: As new federal screeners take over and have to learn the ropes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So all of these people have got to be trained and they're new at their job. And I think that's going to be the cause of delay. So it's going to be like two steps forward and one step back.

DAVIS: CNN has learned that the airlines knew as far back as 1998 that Osama bin Laden was threatening to hijack or bomb airplanes. Although there are no specific warnings about air travel this Memorial Day holiday, there is a sense of heightened alert within the aviation system. All the more reason not to fly, says Stallard. She was in the air on 9/11.

STALLARD: We flew, actually flew over the World Trade Center and just with a 5-year-old son, it's just a little bit, I'm a little bit more at ease driving.

DAVIS (on camera): The FAA is confident it can move traffic along this summer with new routes and more frequent weather forecasts. But, it says, bad weather remains the wild card.

Patty Davis, CNN, at Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

FREIDMAN: Yesterday we gave you a primer on the adolescent brain and why scientists say it's not as fully developed as once thought. So here's a question, if the teen brain isn't fully mature, what does a grownup brain look like?

Our Shelley Walcott examines how a healthy adult brain functions and why it's so important to protect the brain during the formative years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHELLEY WALCOTT, CO-HOST (voice-over): Your brain. It's what helps you out for a walk on a sunny morning; the thing that alerts you when you're feeling too hot or too cold. It's what makes the scent of flowers pleasant and the memory of receiving them pure joy. The brain has been called the "master control center" of the body. Executive decisions from a very delicate organ.

DR. JAY GIEDD, NEUROSCIENTIST, NATL. INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Nature's gone through a great deal of trouble to protect the brain. It's wrapped in a tough leathery membrane surrounded by a protective moat of fluid and completely encased in bone.

WALCOTT (on camera): The brain is a grayish, pink, jelly-like ball with lots of ridges and grooves on its surface. But no one brain looks exactly alike. In fact, it's as individual as your face or your fingerprints.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What keeps the moon is orbit with the Earth?

WALCOTT (voice-over): A healthy brain stores information from past experiences, making learning and remembering possible. The brain is mostly made up of gray and white matter. Gray matter are the actual nerve cells that process information. White matter are the long nerve fibers that move information long distances.

For example, it's your brain's gray matter that recognizes a tennis ball on its way over the net, while the white matter orders the swing sending the ball back to the other side of the court.

In a fully developed adult brain, white matter is fully wrapped in myelin, a fatty substance that lets nerves transmit signals faster and more efficiently. Some nerves, including those that regulate emotion, judgment and impulse control, are not fully covered in myelin until a person is in their early 20s. As a result, circuits that make sense of incoming information to the brain are still under construction until about the age of 16. All the more reason, scientists say, to protect the growing brain from harmful substances.

GIEDD: It's a real unfortunate irony that at this time when the brain is most vulnerable during this adolescent pruning period is also the time when teens are most likely to experiment with drugs or alcohol.

WALCOTT: Scientists are still trying to pinpoint exactly how different types of drugs affect the brain. But Dr. Giedd says one form of inhalant abuse, called huffing, is definitely harmful.

GIEDD: What that does is, as the inhalants go up through the nose, they go directly to the front part of the brain and damage it. That's what gives you this sort of altered feeling. But it's hard to imagine as a brain scientist a worse way, you know, to alter your feelings, by directly damaging the brain cells in this critical front part of the brain. This is the part of the brain that sort of separates man from beast.

WALCOTT: Aside from addiction, scientists are looking into how brain development during the teen years could be linked to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, as well as learning and developmental problems such as autism and attention deficit disorder. The research goes on, but neuroscientists say they know one thing for sure: This 3 pound mass made up of billions of cells plays one of the most crucial roles in human life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: Next up, STUDENT NEWS heads to the golf course. Now you probably know about golf and birdies and eagles, but what about salamanders? Some salamanders on the East Coast are stressed out, and they're letting the world know it through their spots.

CNN's Ann Kellan explains in our "Science Report."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What does a golf course have to do with the spots on the Spotted Salamander? Researchers at Cornell University have - pardon the pun - spotted some changes in salamanders living near the college golf course, compared to ones that don't. And compared to salamanders that lived in the same area before the golf course was built, 60 years ago.

Spotted Salamanders are found in the Eastern United States and Canada. Typically the spots on the left and right side of its body match up, one for one. But the salamanders near the golf course are not symmetric. Spots on the left and right side don't match.

KELLY ZAMUDIO, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: This is an indication that there is population stress at the golf course pond, compared to a pond that hasn't been disturbed.

KELLAN: Researchers don't know the reason, but point to the runoff of fertilizers and chemicals used to maintain pristine greens as a possible stress factor.

(on camera): You can see where this is going, environmentalists complaining that golf courses are bad for wildlife. But here's a twist, some environmentalists are working with golf courses to take advantages of these huge green spaces. At least they're better than a strip mall.

(voice-over): Many toxic products are off the market says Ken Mangum who manages the grounds at the Atlanta Athletic Club Golf Course in Georgia. This course has become a haven for wildlife that is losing habitat to nearby developments.

KEN MANGUM, MANAGER, ATLANTA ATHLETIC CLUB GOLF COURSE: We have bluebird boxes almost every hole. We've got doves, we've got geese. The Salamander stands a lot better chance on that golf course than it does if there's a subdivision there, or if there's a shopping center there. ZAMUDIO: Something is happening to them. And this might be a great tool for trying to figure out which populations of amphibians are stressed before they actually go extinct.

KELLAN: Researchers aren't singling out golf courses. They are hoping with this research that a species under stress will now be easier to spot.

Ann Kellan, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: School may be coming to an end, but when it resumes in the fall, many states across the U.S. will offer varying curriculums to enhance the learning experience. These programs range from technology to fine art.

CNN Student Bureau's Elizabeth Nobles looks at one program offering dance education.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH NOBLES, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): This is how you probably think of high school, endless days of lectures and tests taking place in a classroom filled with desks and books. Even fine arts classes are usually seen as merely art and band. But what about if there was something different, what about dance education?

At least 15 states have guidelines for dance curriculum. These programs give students many benefits.

ANNA MARIA D'ANTONIO, DANCE TEACHER: And we do really offer them a lot of scholarship opportunities and a lot of opportunities to sit with them on a one-to-one basis and look at different colleges and different programs and find out how dance is going to fit into their lives outside of high school.

NOBLES: Supporters say dance education helps students learn critical thinking and analytical skills, cooperation and teamwork, organization and problem solving as well as learning about the world's cultures.

LINDSAY WOOD, AGE 18 (ph): Well in fifth period there's so many different styles that we like are exposed to and we have so many guest choreographers coming in, especially in the fifth period, it's a new style every week. And for fourth period I'm in independent study and dance composition, and I've learned so much about choreography and at my studio, I'm not given those opportunities at all. There's no room for choreographic freedom, nothing.

NOBLES: Dance education not only offers students life skills, it offers people the freedom to express themselves. Students experience an activity they would never have participated in outside of school.

REID FISHER, AGE 18 (ph): I would not have taken dance outside of school because I don't have enough time and it just doesn't fit in with my school and work schedule.

NOBLES: When schools have to cut their budgets, sometimes fine arts classes are the first to go. How would the elimination of these programs affect students?

STEPHANIE STEARNS, AGE 16 (ph): I really don't know what I would do without dance school because it gives me so many different opportunities I wouldn't have if I was just at my studio, like audition opportunities and different ways to grow as a dancer.

FISHER: And we have to do crunches and pushups and stretches, that helps with exercise. And then we actually have to dance, too, which is a lot more work than you would think.

STEARNS: It teaches you how to dance, it teaches you about dance and the history and how you must work and what you need to do to stay in shape.

WOOD: If you want to be an artist, you can take art classes. You -- if you want to be in the theater, you can take theater classes. Well if you want to be in the dance field, I think you need to have dance classes.

NOBLES (on camera): Through dance education, schools are able to help students grow into adults, adults that are not limited to the basic ideas of academia.

Elizabeth Nobles, CNN Student Bureau, Snellville, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

"Where in the World" this country is landlocked, has cold winters and hot summers, invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in 1979? Can you name this country? Afghanistan.

FREIDMAN: So did you point out Afghanistan on the map? Chances are Calvin McCarter can. The 10-year-old from Michigan won this year's National Geographic Bee. Calvin, who's home schooled, was the youngest competitor in a field of 55 youthful geography experts.

And speaking of intellectual competitions, the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee kicked off yesterday. It's the 75th annual competition. What's it take to get there? In a word, diligence.

Kathy Slobogin spells it out for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRENCH, ALEX'S FATHER: Tergiversation?

ALEX FRENCH: T-E-R-G-I-V-E-R-S-A-T-I-O-N.

KATHY SLOBOGIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She may not know what all the words mean...

B. FRENCH: Sinistrocular? A. FRENCH: S-I-N-I-S-T-R-O-C-U-L-A-R?

B. FRENCH: Perfect.

SLOBOGIN: But she can spell them.

For 15 hours a week, 13-year-old Alex French drills for the National Spelling Bee.

A. FRENCH: A-T-B-E-P-H-R-E-N-I-A.

SLOBOGIN: This is a girl whose room is lined with dictionaries. A girl who gets excited about words like some kids get excited about CDs.

A. FRENCH: This is one of my favorites was buccinators. And it means...

SLOBOGIN (on camera): Spell it.

A. FRENCH: B-U-C-C-I-N-A-T-O-R-S.

SLOBOGIN (voice-over): Which, for those of you who don't know, means the cheek muscles of a trumpet player.

Inspired by the national bee when she was seven, Alex has been a contender since the fifth grade. Last year, she won the regional bee with dactiloscopy, and went on to place 12th at the national bee in Washington.

Like most spellers, she remembers every word she's ever missed.

(on camera): What word did you miss in Washington?

A. FRENCH: Splanchnology.

SLOBOGIN: Spell it.

A. FRENCH: S-P-L-A-N-C-H-N-O-L-O-G-Y.

SLOBOGIN (voice-over): Alex's parents say they didn't do anything special to create a champion.

CINDY FRENCH, ALEX'S MOTHER: I mean she just amazes me. She spells all these words that I never even heard of. And it's like she hears a word and she pretty much knows how to spell it.

B. FRENCH: She has a gift for orthography, and there's no question about it.

SLOBOGIN: Alex's dad, Bob French, is her coach. His strategy: drill.

B. FRENCH: Get all the words they have to learn and then we drill them. And then we do quizzes and then we create pneumonics and we have games and then we -- after a while we go nuts, and then we drill some more.

SLOBOGIN: This is the enemy, Webster's Dictionary with 460,000 words, any one of which Alex might have to know.

B. FRENCH: If you were to study all the words they used for the last 20 years, there are some patterns.

SLOBOGIN (on camera): You've actually studied the words from the last 20 years of the spelling bee?

B. FRENCH: No, 10 years.

(LAUGHTER)

SLOBOGIN: Only 10 years.

B. FRENCH: Only 10 years, yes.

SLOBOGIN (voice-over): Alex plays the violin, but she's had to give up soccer, piano lessons, the Girl Scouts.

(on camera): Have you ever been tempted just to bag it?

A. FRENCH: Yes, I have. A few times -- well, a lot of times with my dad, when he's drilling me.

I-S-F.

B. FRENCH: No, it's one...

(CROSSTALK)

B. FRENCH: Oh, it's I-P-H. You're right. You're right.

A. FRENCH: We get into all these arguments. "No, it's French." "No, it's Greek." And we just get so -- I don't know, it's because -- a lot of drudgery in it. And sometimes I just want to throw the books down and just run out the door and play.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't be more proud of you if you were my own.

SLOBOGIN (voice-over): Being a champion speller means recognition, like getting an award from your old elementary school for being a role model.

A. FRENCH: No matter how hard the work is, it's always worth it. So go for it.

SLOBOGIN: But with the recognition comes pressure, a lot of pressure.

A. FRENCH: Well I don't think I would like it if everybody knew that I got 12th last year. And everybody in my school is depending on me, and everybody is rooting for me. But if I don't do well, then there's a lot of pressure there. SLOBOGIN: Friends tell Alex if she loses this year she can simply try again next year. But that means another year of drilling.

A. FRENCH: They have no idea how hard these words are.

SLOBOGIN: But for all the pressure, Alex says she's ready. Ready to spell against the best, hoping to win.

(on camera): It would all be worth it?

A. FRENCH: Yes. It would be more than worth it.

SLOBOGIN (voice-over): Kathy Slobogin, CNN, Nashville, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: Congrats, Alex, you made it through round one of the contest. The final round is today. Good luck to all the contestants.

And finally, another sad chapter in New York history ended yesterday as the last steel column of the demolished trade center was brought out. As it moved, dozens of New York firefighters and police officers lined a ramp leading out of the site. They saluted as the construction workers filed by, and we leave you with those images today.

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