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CNN Student News Transcript: April 14, 2008

  • Story Highlights
  • Watch how demonstrators and celebrities are raising awareness about Sudan
  • Look inside the Olympic Charter to understand its role in a current controversy
  • Observe how false facts are ammunition in an "intellectual war" waged online
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(CNN Student News) -- April 14, 2008

Quick Guide

Global Day for Darfur - Watch how demonstrators and celebrities are raising awareness about Sudan.

Olympic Charter - Look inside the Olympic Charter to understand its role in a current controversy.

Wikipedia Politics - Observe how false facts are ammunition in an "intellectual war" waged online.

Transcript

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

MONICA LLOYD, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. We hope you had a good weekend and hope you're ready to get started on a new week of CNN Student News. From the CNN Center, I'm Monica Lloyd.

First Up: Global Day for Darfur

LLOYD: First up today, we're focusing on the conflict taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan. The United Nations calls this the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. According to the U.N., more than 200,000 people have been killed by the fighting, and at least two million people have been forced to leave their homes. People and organizations around the world are working to raise awareness about the situation and end the fighting. Yesterday marked the "Global Day for Darfur." Emily Chang shows us how activists and survivors commemorated the event in London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY CHANG, CNN REPORTER: Children dropping off postcards at the Sudanese embassy in London.

ROA HASSAN, DARFUR SURVIVOR: We're here today to tell the Sudanese embassy they need to stop the war in Darfur, the conflict and the raping too.

CHANG: On the postcards, drawings of what the children say are their memories from Darfur: Women and children fleeing gun-toting rebels, houses burning, dead bodies.

HASSAN: I witnessed dead bodies on the street, children fleeing from gunshots and air forces dropping bombs down.

CHANG: This little girl was lucky enough to escape with her mother.

IKHLASS MOHAMED, DARFUR SURVIVOR: Our people, they are suffering a lot. They kill, they buried alive, they burned.

CHANG: This is one of several protests being staged around the world to mark the 5th anniversary of war in Darfur, a war protesters say shows no signs of stopping. Fighting broke out in February 2003 when ethnic African tribesmen took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, complaining of decades of neglect. The government is accused of unleashing violent militias on rebel groups, but government officials have denied involvement.

PROTESTERS: Protect the children of Darfur! Protect the children of Darfur!

SOPHIE MCCANN, PROTESTER: We have children who have known nothing but war and violence and atrocity, and they're living on humanitarian aid.

CHANG: Matt Damon, Thandie Newton and other celebrities are the latest to participate in a new television campaign to raise awareness about the children who are suffering. George Clooney has spoken publicly about the conflict for years. In advance of this year's global protests, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered to hold peace talks

GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PM: All rebel groups as well as the government must go to these talks. And secondly, there has got to be a ceasefire, and the violence on all sides has got to stop.

CHANG: As Darfur and the world wait for the international community to take action, the Sudan's smallest survivors watch their country being torn apart from afar. Emily Chang, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

LLOYD: If you want to help your students learn more about Sudan and the conflict in Darfur, check out the Learning Activity on our Web site. It allows students to research the African nation and examine the roles of the Sudanese government, the U.N., and the international community in Darfur. You can find the resource at CNNStudentNews.com.

Olympic Charter

LLOYD: We've been talking a lot about the Olympics recently and the war of words between China, the host country, and protesters who are speaking out against China. Each side says the Olympic Charter supports its argument. But what does the document actually say, and why is it such an important part of this dispute? Josh Levs has some of the answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH LEVS, CNN REPORTER: A heated dispute over China hosting the Olympics; the different sides keep pointing to this:

SEN. SHERROD BROWN, (D) OHIO: The Olympic Charter.

JIANG YU, SPOKESWOMAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY: The Olympic Charter.

LEVS: A 100-page document from the International Olympic Committee. China says it makes clear politics should not be linked to the Olympics.

JIANG: We hope that the IOC officials can eliminate the disruptions and stick to the clearly-stated principles in the Olympic Charter.

LEVS: The charter says, "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas." It has no say over public streets as the torch travels through. Many who support the protests say China isn't following parts of the charter. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some other lawmakers say China's lack of certain human rights and its crackdown in Tibet violate the charter's call for a peaceful society dedicated to human dignity.

BROWN: The Olympic Charter makes clear the goal of an Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with the spirit of friendship and solidarity and fair play. We should use the games as an impetus to hold that country accountable on fair trade, on religious freedoms, on human rights.

LEVS: Can participants in the Olympics try to hold China accountable? Some French athletes want to make a statement with badges reading "For a Better World." The head of the International Olympic Committee says participants may express opinions, but if the charter's prohibition against demonstrations at Olympic events is not enforced...

JACQUES ROGGE, IOC PRESIDENT: This will be the end of the spirit of the Olympic Games.

LEVS: Olympic organizers are considering what kinds of things may be allowed at the games, whether for participants or spectators. If people try to hold big signs, for example, those could be viewed as demonstrations or political propaganda, and officials could enforce the Olympic Charter. Josh Levs, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Is this Legit?

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is This Legit? You must be an employee of Wikipedia to make changes on the Web site. Not Legit! The popular, encyclopedia site says that "anyone can edit almost any page."

Wikipedia Politics

LLOYD: But is what they're putting online always accurate? It's an important issue, especially when the entry is for a public figure like a presidential candidate. There's been some questionable information about this year's White House hopefuls posted on Wikipedia, and some people are studying how it might be affecting the election. Tom Foreman fills us in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN REPORTER: Three hundred million times a day, people click on Wikipedia for information about chameleons, catastrophes and presidential candidates. And that is where it gets tricky, because for months, supporters of all three have been furiously changing Wikipedia entries to make their choice look good and the opponents look bad. Andrew Rasiej is studying the impact on this election.

ANDREW RASIEJ, TECHPRESIDENT.COM FOUNDER: The people who are watching over those pages have to basically act as vigilantes to make sure that the information remains as unbiased as possible. It's a very difficult thing to do.

FOREMAN: Volunteers like Dan Rosenthal oversee the Wikiworld, where almost anyone can alter an entry as long as they cite a source. This is something of an intellectual war?

DANIEL ROSENTHAL,WIKIPEDIA EDITOR: Yeah, you could characterize it like that.

FOREMAN: Over and over, users try to change Obama's page and make him a Muslim; he is not. They have tried to label Hillary Clinton a white supremacist; she is not. And they have accused John McCain of starting a huge fire on an aircraft carrier that took more than 100 lives. He barely escaped with his life in that incident, but he didn't cause it. But some in the Wikiwar will try relentlessly to get a false fact to stick.

ROSENTHAL: They bring it up time and again.

FOREMAN: Even though it's not true?

ROSENTHAL: Even though it's not true. They want it in the article.

FOREMAN: All the candidates' pages have been locked at times, and some users are banned, but Wikifans say most edits are well intentioned and worth it.

RASIEJ: We're going from top-down politics to bottom-up politics, and the powers that control the future of our country are being realigned around a more participatory citizenry. And the Internet is facilitating that.

FOREMAN: The Wikiwars, they say, are really all about changing politics. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Shoutout

AZUZ: Time for the Shoutout! In what year was the Rubik's Cube invented? If you think you know the answer, shout it out! Is it: A) 1968, B) 1974, C) 1983 or D) 1987? You've got three seconds -- GO! Professor Rubik invented his famous cube in 1974 to help teach his students about geometry. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Before We Go

LLOYD: From a teaching tool to a trendy toy, more than 300 million Rubik's Cubes have been sold worldwide. And just like cup stacking, true talent is all about speed. Photojournalist Scott Wright at our affiliate KUSA caught up with some cubeaholics to check out their fast fingers and solving skills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY COCHRAN, SPEED CUBE COMPETITOR: When you get to a certain point towards the end, there are certain patterns you recognize. So, you have a sequence of maybe nine moves that perform a certain task. So, you're not really thinking each individual move out. It's more of a sequence that you know.

FRANK MORRIS, SPEED CUBE COMPETITOR: Break it down into sections, so that I was only manipulating a few pieces at a time using the same moves over and over again. So, it's really easy to remember. So, I'd have one layer. And I'd use the same moves to put the edges in place so that I have two layers. Then I would solve the last layer.

SHELLEY CHANG, SPEED CUBE COMPETITOR:I was the first female blindfold solver in competition, and I've just been the fastest ever since. No one's challenged me for it yet.

COCHRAN: I like when I get to the end here. The last sequence I have memorized. I know exactly what to do to fix that sequence. Especially considering that this is the first competition here, they have to work a lot harder to get good attendance, and this is really good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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Goodbye

LLOYD: Those fleet-fingered fanatics finish off today's show. But we'll be back again tomorrow for more CNN Student News. See you then. I'm Monica Lloyd. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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