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CNN Student News Transcript: October 30, 2007

  • Story Highlights
  • Follow a California family on its return home after the recent wildfires
  • Hear how Gap is responding to allegations that it employed child labor
  • Learn about some possible punishments for using a fake doctor's note
  • Next Article in Living »
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(CNN Student News) -- October 30, 2007

Quick Guide

Back to School, Back to Life - Follow a California family on its return home after the recent wildfires.

Child Labor Laws - Hear how Gap is responding to allegations that it employed child labor.

Before We Go - Learn about some possible punishments for using a fake doctor's note.

Transcript

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi. It's Tuesday, and you've found your way to this brand new edition of CNN Student News. We're glad to have you with us everyone. From the CNN Center, I'm Carl Azuz.

First Up: Back to School, Back to Life

AZUZ: First up today, 16 of the Southern California wildfires are completely extinguished and another four are at least 90% contained. Now, there are still a few blazes burning, but a lot of residents are heading home and getting started on what's going to be a long road to recovery. And yesterday, a sign of normalcy for some young people in the region: school was back in session. Kara Finnstrom joined one family as they made the trip back home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN REPORTER: For seven days of wildfire wars, it's been base camp to nearly 700 firefighters. Now, the soot and ash are being blasted and wiped away and the students are coming back to Poway High.

FINNSTROM: Are you a little nervous about coming back?

LYN GALE, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Kind of.

FINNSTROM: Lyn Gale is one of 300 students in this district alone left homeless by the fires.

LYN GALE: I got photos, a camera and a blanket I made.

SCOTT FISHER, PRINCIPAL, POWAY HIGH SCHOOL: Kids who lost textbooks and that kind of thing, we've already got them in the library.

FINNSTROM: The principal at Poway High says counselors, teachers and friends will help students try to regain some sense of normalcy after a week of horrific chaos. Lyn Gale is struggling.

GALE'S FATHER: We're going in to see our home.

FINNSTROM: Lyn's family invited us along as, for the first time, the children returned to their neighborhood.

ALEX GALE, NINE YEARS OLD: How did the fire get to our house?

FINNSTROM: Lyn became too emotional to go, but her brother and sister did.

GALE'S FATHER: Your bedroom was this one right there.

FINNSTROM: Nine-year-old Alex and thirteen-year-old Kristen could barely recognize what they once called home.

KRISTEN GALE, 13 YEARS OLD: When we were evacuated, I really really thought we were coming back to a house that wasn't in ashes.

FINNSTROM: This week, with more than 30,000 other children in Poway, they'll start the overwhelming task of piecing whole lives back together.

ALEX GALE: I want to have a normal day and see my friends.

KRISTEN GALE: It's kind of been boring back in the hotel we're staying in.

FINNSTROM: So it will be good to get back and see your friends?

KRISTEN GALE: Yeah.

FINNSTROM: And going back to school will be that first step. Kara Finnstrom, for CNN, Poway, California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Impact Your World

AZUZ: As you just heard, the victims of these wildfires have a long, tough road ahead of them. And you might be wondering what you can do to help. Well, we've got a way for you to find out. Log on to CNN.com/impact and learn about some of the ways you can take part in the relief efforts.

Shoutout

AZUZ: Time for the Shoutout! Who was president in 1938 when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed? You know what to do! Was it: A) Franklin D. Roosevelt, B) Warren G. Harding, C) Calvin Coolidge or D) Harry S Truman? You've got three seconds -- GO! Part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal: the Fair Labor Standards Act. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Child Labor Laws

AZUZ: And here is what that law did. Among other things, it set some rules around child labor. For example, you have to be at least 14 before you can clock in at most jobs, and even 15-year-olds can only work certain hours. But this law only applies in the U.S., and a well-known American clothing retailer is facing accusations of employing child labor in one of its factories overseas. Brian Todd has more on the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN REPORTER: Kids as young as 10, toiling in a back-alley sweatshop in India's teeming capital. Some say they work 16 hours a day for no money. They're stitching together blouses, the labels clearly visible: "Gap," one of America's most popular brands.

MARKA HANSEN, PRESIDENT, GAP NORTH AMERICA: It's absolute horror, you know. It's just, it's sickening.

TODD: That reaction from the president of Gap North America to an investigative report by Dan McDougall of the British newspaper The Observer. In this sweatshop in New Delhi, McDougall photographed hallways soiled with excrement from a flooded toilet, and asked these boys how they were punished if they didn't work.

DAN MCDOUGALL, THE OBSERVER: One of the boys in particular said that he's, he'd had an oily rag stuffed in his mouth because he tried to escape. Also, you know, it's quite common for the children working in sweatshops generally to be, you know, beaten or treated badly. And this was no exception.

TODD: McDougall also reports these children slept on floors and on the roof.

HANSEN: It's deeply, deeply disturbing to all of us. So, I feel violated and I feel very, very upset and angry with our vendor and the subcontractor who made this very, very, very unwise decision.

TODD: Marka Hansen says Gap's contract with that subcontractor is terminated, that the company is investigating all its facilities in that region and that these clothes will be destroyed. Industry observers say Gap actually has a good track-record working against child labor. But should Westerners be shocked at these practices when they demand lower prices for high-quality goods?

ZAMA COURSEN-NEFF, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Allegations like this are nothing new. Consumers should be shocked if they're buying garments that have the handprint of small children on them. But at the same time, it doesn't really cost that much more for consumers to purchase quality garments that are also made in compliance with fair labor standards.

TODD: But that tide won't be turned easily. The U.N. says child labor accounts for about 20% of India's gross national product. An official at the Indian embassy told us his government does go after companies that force children to work, but he couldn't comment on this specific case. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

AZUZ: A few locations mentioned in that report: India, North America, Britain. Do you know where they're all located? Our downloadable maps can help you track them down, but labeling the maps is up to you. To check out the free resources, just head on over to CNNStudentNews.com and scroll down to the Maps section at the bottom of the page.

Is This Legit?

AZUZ: Is this legit? The international space station weighs more than 200 tons. Legit! The ISS weighs in at 241 tons, at least on Earth, and it's getting bigger! The space shuttle Discovery is on a mission right now to add on to the Earth-orbiting station.

Building the Space Station

AZUZ: And it looks like that mission might be going a little bit longer than expected. That's because there's a problem with the gears that operate the station's solar wings. It looks like metal is scraping on metal, and that's not good. During a space walk on Sunday, one of the astronauts got a closer look, and he could tell that something wasn't quite right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN TANI, STATION FLIGHT ENGINEER: When I opened the panel, it was quite obvious to me it was not what you would think of as typical of space hardware; it was not shiny, clean everywhere. There was a dust, debris that I noticed, and it was quite evident. So, I was quite sure there was something anomalous with the mechanism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Before We Go

AZUZ: "My mission in space got extended." Probably not the most believable excuse for missing school. But what about some more common absence answers? "I have a doctor's appointment." "I'm serving jury duty." You'd have to be a pretty gutsy student to try that one, but it could work for your parents because they need notes sometimes for getting out of work. Well, Emi Fitzgerald of affiliate KXII tells us about a Web site that offers excuses for all sorts of occasions. All in good fun, of course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMI FITZGERALD, REPORTER: Pages and pages of excuses, for a one-time fee of $25.

DARL WATTERHOUSE, WEB SITE CO-FOUNDER: You work with employees and you know that it's out there, so you know people use it.

FITZGERALD: Darl Watterhouse and his business partner started MyExcusedAbsence.com a year-and-a-half ago after they discovered a market for what looks like legitimate documents.

WATTERHOUSE: You can see samples here.

FITZGERALD: The form letters allow people to fill in a specific doctor's name or county where they supposedly served jury duty. They even have places for photos in a funeral service program.

WATTERHOUSE: There's two poems on it.

FITZGERALD: The company's disclaimer says the forms are only for entertainment purposes and not intended to deceive.

WATTERHOUSE: I don't think we're enabling people to do anything they wouldn't do anyways.

FITZGERALD: Medical professionals say even without this computer software, people have been making up doctor's notes for years. It's not a practice they encourage, but they say it still happens.

KERYE ASHMORE, ASST. GRAYSON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It's not a ha-ha funny type thing; it's a very serious thing to do that.

FITZGERALD: Prosecutors say a person could be found in contempt of court if they present a fake doctor's note to be excused from jury duty, even face criminal charges for giving an employer fake documents saying a person served jury duty and didn't.

WATTERHOUSE: I don't know what people are gonna do. And people do it anways. People have been doing this since doctor's notes have been invented.

ASHMORE: It's dishonest, and I'm sure if an employer were to find out that you weren't at work and you claimed to serve on a jury -- which would not be difficult to find out, if it's checked -- you might be looking for another job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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Goodbye

AZUZ: Of course there's no excuse for missing CNN Student News, so we'll see you right back here tomorrow. Have a great day, everybody. I'm Carl Azuz. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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