Tom: Hey everyone. It is Wednesday, February 18th. I am Tom Hanson, and Channel
One News starts right now.
Let's get started with headlines. First up, President Obama's immigration plan to allow
millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally to live and stay in America, hit a road
block.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Texas, ruled late Monday night to block the
executive action President Obama took last November, saying the president had not
followed proper legal procedure.
The president's executive order would have allowed five million undocumented workers
to stay in the U.S., giving most adults work permits.
The list includes: undocumented parents of children who are U.S. citizens or parents of
children with permanent legal resident status, also, more children who are brought here
illegally as kids, the so called Dreamers.
And in the state of Texas, that means 560,000 parents would be eligible to stay in the
U.S., along with 183,000 children.
Judge Hanen said Texas would suffer directly from the president's actions and also said
the president was overstepping his legal authority.
President Obama: I disagree with the Texas judges’ ruling and the justice department
will appeal.
Tom: Now, today is Ash Wednesday, which for many Christians begins the 40-day
period of sacrifice known as Lent. It also means Fat Tuesday and all the parties of Mardi
Gras and Carnival are over.
From Brazil, to Italy, to New Orleans, thousands packed the streets around the globe to
celebrate Mardi Gras, the last day of the carnival festival.
Even frigid temperatures in New Orleans didn't stop partiers from dressing up and
enjoying the music.
Donna Leer: Freezing, but we're not phased.
Sugheer: I was hoping for at least double digits, but it's better than Toronto for sure.
Tom: The holiday arrived in the U.S. in the 18th century when French Catholic colonists
came to the U.S. to defend France's claim on the Louisiana territory.
Ok, now let's check and see what you said about an app that could keep tabs on
whether or not you show up to class in college.
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We asked you, are you more likely to attend class if your attendance is being tracked?
Seventy percent of you said yes, but 30 percent of you said no.
Hunter wrote, “If I was being tracked, of course I would go to class more. My parents
would call and I’d have to explain why their hard earned money was going down the
drain, and that’s not a road I want to go down.”
But Marissa disagrees. “Your parents shouldn’t have to monitor your every move. If you
choose to take your education seriously or not, that is your choice. Your parents can
encourage the right thing but in the end it’s your decision.”
Coming up, it is New York Fashion Week. And that means hundreds of models have
flocked to New York City to strut their stuff down the runway. But is that picture perfect
body realistic or even healthy? We will take a look.
Have you ever looked at a magazine cover and thought, wow they are so thin and
perfect? Well, we all know most of those pictures aren’t real. Instead, they are touched
up. You see, perfection is the name of the game in fashion, as Scott Evans found out at
New York Fashion Week.
Scott Evans: Thanks Tom. I am here at the Lincoln Center in New York City where
fashion week is in full force. And aside from showcasing some of the biggest designers
in the industry, all eyes are also on the models, where it pays to be thin. But, is it too
thin?
She was once a star of fashion week, supermodel Cindy Crawford. Now, an untouched
real picture of the 48-year-old has gone viral, and once again put the issue of unrealistic
body image back in the spotlight.
On runways and magazines you see them, models that are tall, beautiful, and very, very
thin.
Bethann Hardison: It’s important that a fashion model is a fashion model.
Scott: It has been the industry standard for years says agent Bethann Hardison.
Bethann: She has to be lean, she should be tall, and it’s not someone who’s fuller body.
That’s not fashion. That’s something else.
Madisin Bradley: I have a fast metabolism.
Scott: At 5'9'' and a natural size zero, 22 year old Madisin Bradley fits that mold.
She has been modeling for five years, working in the U.S. and abroad.
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Madisin: I've had trouble fitting into certain pieces during fashion week.
Scott: Trouble because the pieces were still too small.
Madisin: And I'm very tiny myself.
Scott: After two models died in Europe from complications related to eating disorders,
the fashion industry in Spain and Italy began monitoring how thin a model can be based
on body mass index or BMI. That’s measured by a person’s height and weight, age and
gender.
Israel has gone further, passing a law that requires a model to have a BMI of at least
18.5. In comparison, American women on average have a BMI of 26.5 and wear a size
14.
The Israeli law also requires that any print ad that’s been Photoshopped says so.
Emme: Young children are being affected by imagery every single day.
Scott: Plus-sized supermodel Emme wants regulations in the U.S., especially when it
comes to Photoshopping.
Emme: Young girls are thinking, "That's how I wanna look like."
Scott: And they say virtually every ad photo has been altered.
Madisin: It could be for my complexion to my weight.
Scott: A Girl Scouts of the USA survey found 89 percent of teenage girls feel the fashion
industry pressures them to be skinnier.
It took Kathleen Macdonald 20 years to recover from both Anorexia and Bulimia, issues
she said started when she was just 12 years old.
Kathleen: I had started to give up and was planning to take my own life because I was
so sick of, sick of being sick and sick of not getting better.
Scott: A fight she has detailed before Congress. Her group is now sponsoring three
separate bills calling for eating disorder education and for greater transparency in
advertising.
Kathleen: We have to start with something. I am committed to doing this until not one
more person dies prematurely from an eating disorder.
Scott: But some leading designers feel the change should come from within the
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industry.
Elie Tahari: Every designer needs to take responsibility. They have to deal with the real
things, real women, real sizes, real models. And it's good for business.
Scott: Scott Evans, Channel One News.
Tom: So how realistic is your body image, head on over to Channelone.com to take a
body image quiz.
Alright coming up after the break, one teen has built a way to help those in need, with
Legos. We will explain.
Now, I don't know about you Arielle, but I have plenty of ideas that could make some
pretty good inventions.
Arielle: Yeah Tom, well it is not every day that you can change your dreams into reality,
especially for teenagers. But one 13-year-old's vision is helping those who can't see.
In a room full of big time entrepreneurs and investors, this teen may look out of place.
But Shubham Banerjee is already a star. He is the youngest person ever to get a
venture capital investment to start a new business. That means investors give him
money to get his idea started, and in turn, they get a piece of his company.
It all began last year, during a conversation with his parents.
Shubham Banerjee: I just asked a simple question, how do blind people read? They
said go google it, and I found out that braille printers cost $2,000 onwards.
Arielle: So he tried to build an affordable braille printer using Legos. Yes, Legos. Turns
out, it was a science fair winner.
His braille printer got so much attention he was invited to the White House.
Henry Wedler, a blind PHD student, found it pretty exciting.
Wedler: What you've done here is extraordinarily impressive and really demonstrates
what is possible if you think outside the box.
Arielle: Shubham was so committed to the project, he would stay up late into the night
to work on it.
Shubham: My mom, I don't want to be mean, but she was like, “You know you can't do
it, go to bed, go to bed.” But after I was done with it, after I finished it, my mom was like,
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"Oh my God! I can't believe you did that!" She was pretty shocked herself.
Arielle: His father put up $35,000 to build the prototype.
Mr. Banerjee: I put in my own money without knowing what is going to be the outcome.
Arielle: But Shubahm won't need to ask his dad for money again.
Shubham: I don't have to be a burden on my dad's shoulders anymore. I don't want him
to go bankrupt, you know?
Arielle: This eighth grader's startup is one of 16 companies selected to receive a total of
$62 million from Intel.
Arvin Sodhani is the head of Intel Capital.
Sodhani: You've seen the product. It’s designed to reduce the cost of braille printers
from $2,000 to $400. That's disruption.
Arielle: And Shubahm plans to keep the inventions coming.
Shubahm: Yes, there's gonna be, there's gonna be some more.
Arielle: And the plan is to have an early version of the braille printer ready by this
summer.
Tom: Pretty cool, thanks Arielle.
Alright guys, that's going to do it for us. I am Tom Hanson.
Arielle: I am Arielle Hixson.
Tom: Have a good one, and we will see you right back here tomorrow.
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