After Romeo: Hey, what’s up? We’re “After Romeo” and Channel One News starts right
now!
Tom: Thanks to the band "After Romeo" for kicking us off, they are our featured artist of
the week. Alright we are starting off today with a scandal that has rocked the University
of North Carolina. A newly released report shows that more than three thousand
students took part of a cheating scheme.
Kenneth Wainstein: They didn’t go to class. They didn’t take notes, have to stay awake.
They didn’t have to meet with professors.
Maggie: Thousands of students at the University of North Carolina got a sweet deal,
great grades for fake classes according to a new report from school investigators.
Kenneth Wainstein: The only coursework they had to do was to write a single paper.
Maggie: That describes the “easy A” classes many students here were allowed to take
for nearly twenty years. Almost two hundred courses in the African and Afro-American
studies department were designed to be easy and graded not by a professor, but by an
office administrator.
Kenneth Wainstein: We had one football counselor who actually would provide a list of
the football players who would be taking one of her paper classes along with the grades
associated with each name that that counselor thought that student needed to remain
eligible.
Maggie: Over 1,400 students, almost half the total involved, were athletes using these
“easy A” classes to prop-up their grades so they could remain eligible to play sports.
Five academic counselors in the athletic department admitted to being involved, but so
far all the coaches say they never knew what was happening.
Jay Smith: A lot of people turned the other cheek, turned a blind eye to what was going
on. This is a black mark, a serious black mark that we're going to have to find a way to
erase
Maggie: UNC’S cheating scandal is just another example of what many are calling a
cheating culture that has become more common. A recent study found that more than
half of high school students admit to having cheated on a test, and 75% say they have
copied someone’s homework.
Experts say it is not just the struggling student who is trying to get by. Often it is the high
achievers who are looking to get a leg up on the competition. And thanks to the Internet
cheating is now easier than ever. At UNC the legacy of its sports program has now
been called into question. The athletic director says the solution is honesty.
Bubba Cunningham: It's important to recruit students with integrity. To have faculty with
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integrity. To have coaches with integrity. The foundation is integrity. Maggie: Maggie Rulli, Channel One News.
Tom: So far four university employees have been fired and five disciplined for their roles
in the scandal.
Alright, coming up after the break it is the big dance and the big game. We have got a
wrap up of the biggest stories from homecoming.
Now let us check in on what else is making news today and first up, a dangerous defect
involving airbags is affecting millions of cars on the road in America. And now federal
investigators say the problem is more widespread than they first thought.
The affected cars have airbags with a dangerous defect. The airbags, made by Takata,
can explode and send metal pieces flying in the car.
Senator Ed Markey: These airbags are ticking time bombs and any one of them could
go off at any car at anytime.
Tom: The explosions from Takata airbags are now linked to at least four deaths and
thirty injuries. Automakers have issued a recall for some of the cars involved. A recall is
when a company asks customers to return a product, usually because of defects that
could be dangerous.
More than half the nearly twelve million recalled vehicles are made by Honda. Eight
other manufacturers are involved as well, including Toyota. But there may be more and
some experts say this could become the largest automotive recall in history. The
governments auto safety industry is urging drivers to check their vehicle, especially if
you live in the southern U.S, where Takata thinks humidity makes an explosion more
likely.
The national highway traffic safety administration was first alerted to this problem in
2008. And now a growing number of lawmakers are asking why more is not being done.
Florida Senator Bill Nelson: I have no patience for federal regulators not being entirely
up front forward leaning and aggressive to stop these defective products.
Tom: Alright, next up. You might have seen it up in the sky as the cosmos cast an
awesome sight, clipping the sun and causing a solar eclipse.
The partial solar eclipse yesterday afternoon was widely visible in the U.S. and Canada
and made the sun look like a fingernail. A solar eclipse happens when the moon gets
between the earth and the sun and blocks the view of the sun. In a total solar eclipse
the sun is blocked completely. Total eclipses offer scientists the chance to see the faint
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light around the sun's atmosphere called the Corona. And watching a solar eclipse
should always be done with special protective eyewear. Experts say you shouldn't use
your phone and never look directly at the sun with your camera or eyes unless they are
protected. Tom: Alright, that is a wrap of headlines. Now school is in session. The air is getting a
little colder. Fall is here. And that means homecoming season. Here is Scott Evans with
a wrap up of the dances, and of course, the royalty.
Scott: Heaps of changing leaves, high school football, and homecoming. This fall all
across the country, students celebrated their school spirit. The touching stories went
beyond the touchdowns. At Annandale High School in Minnesota the student body
cheered as Yasmin Vasquez and Devin Stenson were dubbed high school royalty.
Yasmin Vasquez: I am so happy because I win and I'm gonna be that queen of all year.
Devin Stenson: I am. I'm very excited.
Mackenzie Athman: It’s just like something fun, to get like more pumped up for the
game, cause they’re just like the kind and the queen.
Scott: In Texas a whole school plotted to make homecoming a special night for Lillian
Skinner.
Anahi Alvarez: We had promised each other if one of us wins…
Naomi Martinez: We’d give the crown to Lilly.
Scott: The girls said it was their way of returning all the hugs and kindness she had
given them.
Scott: History was made at Austin High School in Texas after the popular vote made
Mel Gonzales homecoming king.
Mel Gonzales: When the crowd screamed my name I don't know how I felt, it was like I
was kind of in my own little world, you know.
Scott: Mel was born a girl but is now living as a transgender boy. He has had the
support of his family for years and now also his classmates, a feeling homecoming
queen Sage Lovell can totally identify with.
The transgendered teen from Walton High School in Georgia says the excitement over
the announcement traveled around school. Sage Lovell: My entire homeroom erupted in very loud cheering. Apparently it was able
to be heard from like across the school.
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Scott: Scott Evans Channel One News.
Tom: Nice. Thanks Scott. Alright coming up after the break we hear what you thought
about safe sports gear, and show you a new way to build a house in this weeks next big
thing.
Now it is time to see what you think is cool in our next big thing. Could you ever imagine
printing the parts of a house and putting it together like Lego's? Well, we will show you
that in just a sec. But first, let us see what you thought about last week's idea.
We told you about Smart Sportsgear, a mouthguard and a cap that electronically detect
head injuries making you and your teammates safer on the field. So is it the next big
thing?
Eighty-five percent of you said yes. That's a game-change. But fifteen percent
said nope, bench this idea.
This week we are taking a look at the growing trend of 3-D printers. Imagine putting
together your very own home with parts you print. Well architects in London are letting
people do just that. It is the ultimate “Do It Yourself” project. Building your own home.
Architect Alastair Parvin designed this 730-square foot, two bedroom house in London,
England and he built it without any construction crews. The idea is that anyone can
download the blueprints for free and even make parts for the house using a type of 3-D
printer.
Alistair Parvin: There is a cost savings in what's called Sweat Equit, which is if you can
do some of the work yourself.
Tom: The labeled parts fit together like a puzzle with staples and screws. The printout
even includes tools. Volunteers assembled this house in a week for less than eighty
thousand dollars, that’s a fraction of the cost of a regular new house. It is not clear how
well the house will stand up to extreme weather, and wannabe homebuilders still need
to follow detailed instructions. But the “Do It Yourself” house already has some fans.
Teen: It's cool, I'd like to try it.
Man: You couldn't buy anything like this in London.
Tom: So are “Do It Yourself” houses the next big thing? Head on over to
ChannelOne.com to cast your vote. We forward to hearing what you think. Alright, guys
we are all out of time today. I am Tom Hanson. Have a great weekend and we will see
you right back here on Monday.
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