CNN Student News

March 8, 2004

This is a rush transcript. This copy may not be in its final form and may be dated.

JENNIFER HAZELTON, CNN ANCHOR: She's facing a possible penalty in prison. But what did Martha Stewart do to deserve this? The government relaxes its restrictions on public schools seeking to separate boys and girls. And if seeing is believing you'd better take one long look at this three-headed frog!  Hello and welcome to CNN Student News for this Monday, March 8th! I'm Jennifer Hazelton at the CNN Center.

Martha Stewart: Guilty

JENNIFER HAZELTON, CNN ANCHOR: First up -- it could spell out jail time, for Martha Stewart. On Friday, the wonder-woman of the crafts world was found guilty, on all four counts against her. They included conspiracy -- which is defined as agreeing with someone else to do something illegal -- two counts of making false statements to investigators when they questioned her... and one charge of obstructing, or interfering with, justice. Stewart's former stock broker, Peter Bacanovic, was also convicted of similar charges. Stewart's sentencing is set for June 17th. But how did someone so admired wind up in the convicted category? Here's Deanna Morawski with the answer.

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DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN REPORTER: For Martha Stewart, everything was always neatly in place...until December 27th, 2001. That's the day she sold nearly 4,000 shares of Imclone Systems, a biotechnology company headed by her friend, Sam Waksal. The next day, the FDA announced it had rejected Imclone's application for its cancer drug, Erbitux. The news caused Imclone stocks to plummet and Congress began an investigation. Waksal was arrested and charged with crimes including insider trading, trying to dump his stock before the FDA rejection became public and affected its value. The investigation then turned to Stewart, and the SEC took over. Rumors of Stewart's wrongdoing cooked up plenty of attention, her reputation for style taking the back burner.

MARTHA STEWART, CONVICTED ON FOUR COUNTS: I think this will all be resolved in the very near future and I will be exonerated...of all this ridiculousness.

MORAWSKI: Her story: that she and her broker, Peter Bacanovic, had a previous agreement to sell her stock if it fell below 60 dollars a share, what's known as a "stop-loss order". Bacanovic, also Waksal's broker, confirmed her story, and later pleaded not guilty to the charges he faced. But Waksal, who initially said he was innocent, eventually pleaded guilty, getting sentenced to more than seven years in prison. Then in June of last year, the bomb dropped for Stewart, she was indicted on five charges, including conspiracy and obstruction of justice. The most serious charge, securities fraud, was later dropped. Some said that the charges were harsh for such a well-mannered celebrity. The government disagreed.

JAMES COMEY, U.S. ATTY., SOUTHERN DIST. OF NEW YORK: Martha Stewart may be famous, but that's no reason for treating her differently from any other defendant.

MORAWSKI: So like every other defendant, her case went to trial. With Bacanovic as her co-defendant. A key player for the prosecution: Douglas Faneuil, an assistant at Merrill Lynch. He testified that Bacanovic, his boss at the time, ordered him to pass an inside stock tip about Imclone to Stewart. Another, Stewart's personal assistant, who testified that Stewart asked her to alter a computer message file. After an unsuccessful attempt to get the case thrown out, the defense took its turn. A main witness for Bacanovic's defense: Stewart's business manager, who backed up Stewart's story that she had a standing agreement with her broker to sell Imclone stock at 60 dollars. Stewart's defense called only one witness, her former attorney.

ROBERT MORVILLO, MARTHA STEWART'S ATTORNEY: I think that the witness that we called indicates what we thought about their case.

MORAWSKI: Regardless of what that is, what mattered is what the jury thought. Deanna Morawski, CNN, Atlanta.

(end video)

Word to the Wise

A Word to the Wise

white-collar: (adjective) Refers to employees who perform knowledge work, in contrast to those who perform manual labor.

Source: www.investorwords.com

(White collar workers may be in professional, managerial or administrative positions.)

Iraq Update

JENNIFER HAZELTON, CNN ANCHOR: Eleven small rockets soared into the U.S. controlled area of Baghdad Sunday -- a day before Iraq's temporary constitution is signed into law. Coalition officials say the rockets were fired from an SUV parked north of the area... and that several of the rounds appeared to hit the Rashid Hotel, near the site of Monday's constitutional meeting. The launch vehicle was later found abandoned with two rockets intact, and destroyed by coalition troops. With an update now on the events that the attacks preceded, here's Ben Wedeman.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN REPORTER: Now the Rashid Hotel, of course, is right across the street from the conference center, where members of the Iraqi governing council they will on Monday sign the delayed interim constitution. Originally, it was supposed to be signed on Friday, but last minute objections by several Shi'ite members to a clause in the constitution caused it to be delayed. However, after extensive consultations with other Shiite leaders, to sign that document without any changes. Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice is sending 50 prosecutors, investigators and administrators to Iraq. They are going to be sorting through the evidence that will be used in eventual war crimes trials against former members of the Ba'athist regime, including former president Saddam Hussein. But that trial will not be in an American court, it will be in an Iraqi court, with Iraqi judges. I'm Ben Wedeman, reporting from Baghdad.

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Fast Facts: Title IX

Time for some Fast Facts! Title IX is the name of a law passed in 1972 that made sex discrimination in public schools illegal. It grew out of the movement seeking equal rights for women, and it meant that all-male schools were forced to let women in, and athletic programs had to finance female sports teams, as well as male. Now there were a couple exceptions to the rule, like in gym classes involving contact sports. And some districts have been allowed to create single-sex schools, but only when they offered similar benefits to the other gender.

Separate but Equal?

JENNIFER HAZELTON, CNN ANCHOR: The government has decided to relieve some of the restrictions imposed by Title IX -- giving schools more freedom to teach boys and girls separately. Now chances are you're watching this show in a co-ed class, but do you think you'd be learning any differently if you were in an all-boys or all-girls environment? test out your theory in this report by Kathleen Koch.

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KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN REPORTER: An all-boys math class. An all-girls class...separate but equal is how Jefferson Leadership Academies, a California public school - describes its style of teaching.

FRANKLIN GOODMAN, TEACHER: I teach the boys the same thing I teach the girls. I teach the girls the same thing I teach the boys. I don't discriminate with anything. KOCH: Now, the Bush Administration has proposed relaxing restrictions so more public schools can opt for single sex classes.

BRIAN JONES, GENERAL COUNSEL, DEPT. OF EDUCATION: What we're doing here is diversifying the education marketplace by bringing yet another option to the table for parents. The fact of the matter is for some kids, single sex education seems to make sense. KOCH: But critics point out the new rules don't require equal numbers of same-sex classes. So an all-girls math class may be set up, but not an all-boys class. Opponents also worry the practice may reinforce stereotypes, and hamper students' ability to work with the opposite sex.

KIM GANDY, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN: That's where we learn teamwork, we learn how to get along, how to work together. When you take boys or girls out of the classroom, the result is that they don't learn the things they need to learn in order to work together as adults.

KOCH: Most importantly, even the U.S. Department of Education admits research on the academic benefits of same-sex classes is incomplete. Most Jefferson students, though, say they prefer them.

ASHLEY RING, 7TH GRADER: It's nice actually because when you're in the same sex classes you could ask questions that you couldn't ask in front of boys because you'd be too embarrassed.

A.J. SMITH, 7TH GRADER: I don't pay attention to like the girls and stuff. And I just pay attention to my work and the books and stuff.

VALERIE GONZALEZ, 8TH GRADER: I'm not distracted from the boys and you just learn more at your own pace in a classroom of all girls.

KOCH: Jefferson's test score are up. It's principal a believer in the single-sex option.

HELEN COMPTON-HARRIS, PRINCIPAL, JEFFERSON LEADERSHIP ACADEMIES: They are more willing to work together and take chances academically that they may not normally take within a co-ed environment.

KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington. 

(end video)

CNNstudentnews.com

JENNIFER HAZELTON, CNN ANCHOR: Is it the appropriate time to loosen up Title IX... and whom did the original set of rules help out? Your students can find the answers using today's learning activity at CNNstudentnews.com. Log on and explore the law's impact on the students of yesterday and today.

Before We Go

 JENNIFER HAZELTON, CNN ANCHOR: Before we go... there's no doubt he would've turned some heads at Calaveras County! But this frog with three times the thinking power, was found in England not far from a children's nursery. He stuck around long enough for headshots, and then the amphibious phenomenon jumped ship -- or cage, as it were -- and hasn't been seen since. Though there's no way of knowing whether pollution played a part in his predicament, it's probably a good idea not to drink the pond water!

Goodbye

JENNIFER HAZELTON, CNN ANCHOR: And we'll head out now on CNN Student News. I'm Jennifer Hazelton. Headline News is hopping your way with more, after this.