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Scott: What is up? It is Friday April 10. And today you will find out why NASA says there are aliens among us. Well, not like here among us, but among us, you know, in the universe.

And we will take you to the movies for a work out. It is a new exercise craze that could help you lose the pounds from all the buttered popcorn. I am Scott Evans and Channel One News starts right now.

 

Let's start off with our top stories.

And first up, scientists say that climate change is changing our earth. But it may also be affecting our health. That's why President Obama is rolling out a new series of climate change initiatives.

This week, President Obama joined scientists and medical professionals for a roundtable discussion on climate change at Howard University.

The meeting, part of National Public Health week, is trying to link climate change to problems with health, like asthma.

Even though most Americans don't connect the two together, the president is trying to change that.

President Barack Obama: It’s not as obvious as some of environmental issues of the past. With climate change and rising temperatures some of the effects are slow and registering in the minds of the public.

But what we know is this; the planet is getting warmer, the science is indisputable. As a consequence we know that wildfires are going to be more frequent and longer in intensity. That means more particulates in the air that’s’ going to have respiratory impacts on people.

Scott: And one reason for the new initiative is that climate change legislation has stalled in Congress.

Pres. Obama: There are families right now in South Florida who see two feet of water coming into their house every time it rains and start thinking, you know what, rising temperatures and rising ocean levels are going to affect my property. Part of what I am trying to communicate here, is that there is a cost to inaction.

Scott: The White House will be holding a climate change and health summit later this spring.

 

And change has come to the city of Ferguson, Missouri. The city was rocked by turmoil, months of frustration and anger over the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen that was shot by a white police officer. Well, now the city has a new governing board that looks very different from the old one.

The people of Ferguson, Missouri voted for a new government this week, for the first time, electing a city council that will be 50 percent black. 

Ferguson is nearly 70 percent African- American. But the city council and police force have been mostly white, until now.

Wesley Bell will be one of the new councilmen.

Wesley Bell: I saw a need for leadership.

Scott: Bell was on the front lines of protests from the day Michael Brown was shot, often trying to cool tensions.

Bell: As a community we have to get involved.

Scott: The national spotlight on Ferguson changed the city. Since the shooting, volunteers got 608 new voters registered, a higher percentage increase than any other town in St. Louis County.

Councilman-elect Bell says in light of the Justice Department report outlining racial discrimination in local law enforcement and the courts, he is looking forward to making a difference.  

Bell: We have a chance with the world watching to show what change can look like.

Scott: It is the age old question, do aliens exist?  

Well NASA says yes, and they believe we are on the brink of discovering aliens or extraterrestrial life within our lifetime.

 

Ellen Stofan: I am gonna say I think we are going to have strong indications of life beyond earth within a decade.

Scott: Ellen Stofan, NASA's chief scientist, said she believes an alien discovery will happen sooner than later.

Stofan: We know where to look, we know how to look, in most cases we have the technology and we are on a path to implementing it. 

Scott: NASA says what's found however won't be highly functioning aliens that we have come to know in movies.

Stofan: We're not talking about little green men, we're more talking about little microbes.

Scott: NASA has already found water on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and water is necessary for life.  So who knows what's out there.

Alright coming up, we visit a college that just recently told all of its students this is their last month for classes. We will explain after this.

 

Alright now Arielle, I have heard of students struggling with the costs of education, but today's story is the other way around where it is the college that just can’t keep up, right?

Arielle: Yea Scott. The girl's at one of Virginia's oldest women's colleges just got the news last month that the doors were closing after 114-years of history and higher education. 

In the hills of Central Virginia, Sweet Briar College has been educating young women for more than a century. But for students like sophomore like Jordyn Elliott, that will end this spring, when the school shuts down its campus for good.

Jordyn Elliott: I have a half-finished scrapbook of memories, and just knowing that it's not going to be there, it's devastating.

Arielle: For the school's nearly 700 students, there was no warning before interim president Jimmy Jones announced that the college of their dreams was running out of money last month.

Jones: Other than the funerals I have had to officiate at, this was by far the hardest thing I could ever imagine myself doing as a president. There's nothing anyone could've done.

Arielle: The school's endowment, or total money from donations, is $85 million. But Jones says it would take closer to $250 million to keep the doors open. He points to the growing cost of giving students financial aid, the tens of millions needed to keep up the 32,000 acre campus, and the cost of paying down the school's debt. 

Since 2008, 25 other colleges have also shut down. Thirty-five others have had to merge.

Jones says higher education is in trouble. 

Jones: Is in serious challenged on every single front.  

Arielle: Those challenges include the soaring cost of tuition, an ongoing problem in higher education today, declining enrollment, suffocating student debt, and competition from inexpensive online schools. 

Sweet Briar students have been talking with other schools about transferring and making sure they don't get burned again. First semester senior Comora Little-John was that close to graduating.

Comora Little-John: I cried immediately because I said wow, I had one semester left and that's being taken away from me.

Arielle: But there is an effort to save Sweet Briar. The county attorney asked a judge to block the schools' closing. And many graduates and students say they are not giving up. 

Girl: The gloves are coming off.  We're fighting for our school 

Arielle: But a knockout punch better come fast. The final day of school is just a month away.

Scott: What a tough situation to be in. Thanks Arielle. 

Now if you guys are just starting the college admissions process, we can help.

So, head to for a college application checklist. 

And after the break, we will see what you guys had to say about life under the sea. 

It is a new way to exercise that could soon be coming to a theater near you. But before we run off with this week's Next Big Thing, let's see what you thought about our last one.

 

We told you about underwater cities, a submerged city of concrete under the ocean.

So is it the Next Big Thing?

Well, 70 percent of you said yes, I will dive right in. And 30 percent of you said no, this idea sinks.

 

Now, if you are a movie-lover, but all that sitting around is leaving you out of shape, well this new workout could be for you. 

You won't find plush seats or tubs of popcorn in this movie theater. The big screen and surround sound still work, but there is no sitting around. You got to run.

This is the cardio theater at Retro Fitness in Maryland. The movies change daily, mostly comedy or action flicks, like this screening of “G.I. Joe”.

Fans say the films are a welcome distraction from exercise.

Tony Hernandez: It distracts you from actually running, which a lot of people hate. 

Scott: But running until the end can be a challenge.

Emma Shebest: They played “Frozen” the other day and I watched the whole thing.

Scott: An entertaining way to burn calories, or ruin a perfectly good movie.

 

So what do you think? Are cardio theatres the Next Big Thing? Well, head to to vote and tell us what you think.

Now, before we get out of here for the weekend, we have got another happy birthday shoutout from a former Channel One reporter, Adriana Diaz.

So, enjoy. And we will see you right back here on Monday.

 

Adriana Diaz: Hi everybody, I’m Adriana Diaz. I work for CBS News in Chicago, which is where we are right now, but I got my start at Channel One News.

They took a chance on me. I started out as an intern and then I got to do everything from produce to report to edit. I got to travel all around the world, Haiti, China, Chile, telling important stories and working with my very best friends.

We would see each other every day at work and then we would hang out on the weekends. And Channel One just gave me memories and friendships to last a lifetime.

So happy 25th birthday Channel One. You’re a friend forever.

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