(CNN) — When Jamil Macias looked down at his new sports uniform, he felt embarrassed by the size on his tag — he knew it was the largest one on his middle-school baseball team.

Still, Macias’ friends called him a giant "teddy bear," and he had gotten used to being one of the bigger kids.

But by seventh grade, his lifestyle was changing dramatically because of his weight. After years of team sports, he started looking for excuses to skip practice and games. As his interest dwindled, he chose to drop out altogether — first from baseball, then, soccer and finally basketball. From then on, the gain accelerated. As a junior in high school, he weighed more than 300 pounds.

While his peers were trying out the latest Abercrombie & Fitch fads, he was trying to find pants large enough to fit his 44-inch waist.

Have you lost a lot of weight? Tell us about it on iReport

"I felt a little bit isolated from society," he said. "After school, people would get ready for sports practices, and I would go home and do homework."

Yet it wasn’t until Macias vacationed in Hawaii at age 17 that he really grasped the reality of his size.

While looking at the digital photos from the trip — initially intending to show them to friends — he was shocked by his appearance. "I never took very many pictures of myself," he said. "When I looked at them, I was too embarrassed to post them online. … I (thought), ‘Whoa, this is what I look like?’ "

And soon after, during a routine physical, the doctor’s scale showed 313 pounds.

That number, and the Hawaii photos, convinced him that he had to change.

But resolving to lose weight was nothing new — on previous visits, his doctor had talked to him about going on a diet or getting a referral for a dietitian. Throughout high school, he’d sporadically headed to the gym, aware of his expanding size, except the habit never stuck.

But now he had motivation. Macias went home that night and began exercising in his garage to avoid being seen at a gym.

Unfortunately his third session on the elliptical ended badly; the strain of his weight broke the machine almost in half and landed him on the floor. His family wasn’t there to witness it, but he felt humiliated when he thought about going inside to face them.

"I was really embarrassed because I had never thought in my mind that I would be big enough to break an exercise machine," he said.

So he began to work out by walking at night. After the disastrous session with the elliptical, he was careful to keep a cover between himself and any potential stares.

It was on one of his first evening jogs that Macias specifically remembers feeling hurt as teenagers in a truck drove by and called him, "Fatty."

"Stuff like that wasn’t common, but it did happen," he said. "I used that as a motivator to keep going — I wasn’t going to let something like that stop me."

Macias pushed himself further each night, progressing from walking to running, in addition to eliminating fast food and replacing processed, sugary foods with fruits and vegetables. His family — especially his mother — was supportive, keeping track of the number of pounds lost right along with him.

"I did the research on my own," he said. "I never followed a specific diet or book. … I explored other (food) options that I knew were better substitutes."

He starts out breakfast with protein-rich dairy, such as cottage cheese and yogurt. Lunch and dinner always include salad and vegetables in addition to an entrée that’s high in protein.

"I didn’t have a set amount of how much I wanted to lose — I just wanted to keep going until I felt good about myself," he said.

After about three years, Macias had dropped nearly 130 pounds and weighed in at 185 in September 2010. "I felt really good," he said. "It took me awhile to really understand my body and know what I can do to it, change it, help it grow and become stronger."

Moving forward

Every day of the week at 5:30 a.m., Macias, now 22, wakes up to hit the gym, usually running for about half an hour on the treadmill and then lifting weights.

Since graduating from college in April, Macias has gained 10 pounds of weight from training to build up muscle. He ran a half marathon in February and is training to run another in August.

"We can all make time to exercise," he said. "You have to stay motivated and positive and pretty much eliminate the excuses."

Besides his physical appearance, Macias said, his lifestyle changes have affected how he interacts with people.

During high school, he would have described himself as reclusive — shy and unengaged.

But thanks to a healthier lifestyle, Macias said he feels a higher self-esteem and — if placed in a group — would immediately identify himself as the leader, filled with confidence he once lacked.

"That was really the theme that kept me going — I wanted to be more engaged in life, and I knew that (losing weight) would help me do it," he said.

(CNN) — Every evening thousands of children in Kenya sit down and do their homework by kerosene-powered light.

However, the soot emitted from the burning lamps is not only an environmental hazard but the toxic fumes could be causing children serious harm and putting them at risk of respiratory illnesses.

Alice Njeri lives with her two sisters and their children in a suburb of Nairobi called Kayole. She says the indoor pollution can be difficult to live with.

"The Kerosene lamp emits smoke and gives my children eye problems and the smoke can bring them to tears," she said.

The United Nations Environmental Program says that in rural Kenya more women die of smoke-related illnesses than they do of malaria and tuberculosis. This smoke is from cooking and lighting fuels.

The inflammatory agents in kerosene lamps have been linked with everything from cancer to behavioral deficits. The lamps are also a safety risk as they can be easily knocked over and start fires in the home.

According to the CIA World Fact Book only a quarter of households in Kenya have electricity. It’s estimated that around a third of Kenyans rely on kerosene lanterns for their lighting needs.

One company is on a mission to change this and is aiming to replace one million kerosene lanterns with solar-powered ones.

It’s an ambitious project but one that the team feel can really make a difference to people living in rural Kenya who do not have access to electricity.

"The solar lights have a huge impact on health, education, productivity and overall improve the quality of people’s lives," said Joseph Nganga from Solanterns, an initiative of Renewable Energy Ventures.

Its lanterns cost around $25 and are powered via a solar panel, which charges a lithium ion battery. Solanterns says it has reached over 1,500 households. This was partly helped by USAID which bought and distributed 500 lanterns around Nairobi.

But the team still has a long way to go if it is to achieve its goal.

"We hope to expand access to solar lanterns through a wider product offering to meet different consumer needs and budgets," Nganga said.

"Critical to achieving our target of replacing one million kerosene lanterns with one million solar lanterns is consumer awareness," he added.

The company says that each lantern will reduce CO2 emissions by 135 kilograms and save 52 liters of kerosene over its lifetime.

This means that as well as the environmental benefits using solar lamps will save families money on fuel.

The organization estimates that over a three-year period families will save $140 in lighting costs, making solar lamps cheaper than kerosene lamps in the long-run.

Leah also lives in Kayole and has a son in his last year at primary school. She said: "With the way life is right now and high fuel prices I couldn’t always manage to buy kerosene.

"Sometimes my child has homework that he couldn’t do so the lantern has really helped me."

Solar lighting is also being credited with better grades for school children. According to Solantern’s research, over half of children living in households with a solar lantern were able to study an extra two hours a night.

"My child’s performance is different now because he could not do homework and study at night with the kerosene lamp," Leah added. "He performs much better now."

As well as using her solar lamp in the home, Njeri says that she uses it on her market stall in the evening. Its makers say it can lead to better sales at fruit and vegetable stands as produce is no longer spoiled by fumes from kerosene lamps.

"My kids tell me not to return to the kerosene lantern but to instead bury it," Njeri said.

(CNN) — Nitin Sagar was at his New Delhi office, tweeting about needing a girl to fondly run her fingers through his hair, when he saw the posts about three deadly blasts many miles away in Mumbai.

He noticed many people were tweeting offers to help victims and knew that in no time, they would go viral.

"Someone in Bombay please create a Google Doc with numbers/addresses of people willing to help," he posted on Twitter, using the old name for Mumbai.

He thought aggregate information could help a person bleeding on the street or a relative desperately searching for a loved one.

Before he left the office, Sagar created a Google docs spreadsheet. He inserted five names and phone numbers. That was about 8 p.m., an hour after the attacks.

"Have compiled numbers and areas where help is available from the time," he tweeted. "Add and share please."

By the time Sagar reached home a half hour later, the site had compounded to hundreds of names of people who wanted to donate blood, provide shelter, help transport people or help in any way they could.

"You have no idea how fast it grew," he said. "I still don’t know why I did it. It was all happening so fast."

With a few swift clicks of the mouse, Sagar, a 26-year-old Indian techie, had become an accidental hero of the Mumbai tragedy.

The spreadsheet was viewed by thousands. Tweeted by even more. And used by people who finally found an avenue to help.

Mumbai architecture student Pranali Patel inserted her phone number and said she was willing to donate O+ blood.

"I was looking for a way to help but I thought I would just be adding to the chaos," she said.

Then her sister told her about the spreadsheet. With memories of the 2008 terrorist siege on Mumbai still painfully raw in her mind, Patel thought the least she could do would be to donate blood.

"I forwarded the link to a lot of my friends and they added their names to the list," she said.

In the same vein, Anirubh Sharma, a tech worker in Bangalore, saw the spreadsheet link on Twitter. A friend’s relative was killed at the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel when it came under attack in 2008. Sharma thought he should step up and offered an airline coupon for a free ticket to anyone who needed to travel in or out of Mumbai.

In the middle of the madness, he received a call from a man who wanted to take him up on the offer.

"It’s easy to make noise," he said. "But instead of just ranting on Facebook and Twitter, why not do something good?"

Sagar said thousands of people accessed the spreadsheet. He does not know exactly what came of it all but he didn’t think there had been such a centrally organized online disaster effort before in India.

He took the site down Thursday once emergency needs dissipated. But the last 24 hours have shaped his future goals.

Sagar, who works at a digital mapping firm, said he plans to keep working on establishing such databases. If and when the need arises again, maybe there will already be a relief database in place.

"So I’ve the go ahead to build a disaster relief management system from bosses. You have inputs?" he tweeted Thursday.

In the meantime, he said he wanted to try and shed the good Samaritan label.

"Let’s face it, I was not there on the ground," he said. "I did not lift a single dead person or an injured person. All I did was make a few clicks. It was convenient. There was no effort at all."

He was not liking the hero worship. And as he does most everything else, he posted it on Twitter.

"Dear new followers gained in the wake of a truly delusional momentary Twitter glory, good luck. I am genuinely annoying on most days."

(CNN) — It’s hard to escape buzz about Spotify this week — especially since Britney Spears and others are "so excited" about it.

Trent Reznor, from Nine Inch Nails, says "it’s great."

The rapper Talib Kweli says "music is about to be fun again."

But what makes Spotify — a music-streaming site that’s already popular in Europe and launched in the United States on Thursday — so awesome that it would cause these tweets from musicians?

Many U.S. music fans will have to wait a few weeks to find out. As CNN’s Mark Milian reports, Spotify is available in the U.S. by invitation only — or for paying customers.

So before you shell out your cash for this music-streaming service, here’s a look at what makes Spotify unique.

The music catalog is huge

First, a little background: Spotify — the name is a combination of "spot" and "identify" — is a music streaming service, which means it lets you play songs off the Internet. So it’s kind of like Pandora, except that you can search for songs and create playlists from a catalog of 15 million tracks. On Pandora, you just pick a "radio station" and listen to whatever songs a computer chooses for you. You can’t pick which songs come up.

Spotify also faces competition from Rdio and Turntable.fm, which offer versions of this playlist approach.

It’s free

Well, mostly. With an invitation, users in the U.S. can play songs with some ads sprinkled in for good financial measure. For $5 per month, the ads go away and you get unlimited streaming. For $10, you can listen to Spotify’s music on your mobile phone, too.

Again, the response from the tech world is largely positive.

"I’ve been using Spotify for a year and a half here in England, and it’s been a real test: I left my CD collection packed up in boxes," CNET’s Stephen Shankland says.

It works like iTunes

iTunes, Apple’s hugely popular music player, is easy to use. So is Spotify. In reviews, tech writers note how fast the system works, and how easy it is to find music and add songs to your playlists.

It’s social

If you sign in with Facebook, you can see what all of your friends have been listening to on Spotify — and even play their playlists.

That may sound obvious or boring, but remember that you don’t have to own your friends’ songs in order to play them. It’s the modern mixtape.

It changes the way people think about music

Record stores and iTunes taught music lovers that songs and albums must be purchased individually. While you can purchase music on Spotify, the site also promotes a pay-by-the-month approach. For a monthly fee — which is less than the cost of a single album — you get access to tons of music. And you can play it from wherever you want. Spotify also offers download options, so you can play some songs even if you don’t currently have an Internet connection.

And this all works smoothly, writes Rosa Golijan at MSNBC:

"I constantly forget that all the music I’m listening to is not actually on my computer or mobile device, but instead being consistently streamed at a reasonable quality — no matter how slow my Internet connection occasionally can be. (Mind you, songs can be stored for offline play so that you’re never music-less even if stuck without an internet connection or decent mobile data service.)"

It’s been years in the making

Spotify was founded in Sweden in 2006. Since then, U.S. tech heads have been clamoring for the service to skip across the pond.

That launch has been stalled in negotiations with record labels, and that’s caused anticipation about the service to build. With all those negotiations said and done, it appears Spotify is now a legal product in the states.

It lets you take music anywhere

If you pay $10 a month for the premium service, you can listen to all of your Spotify playlists — keep in mind, this is music you’re "renting," not music that you have purchased by the song — right on your phone. If you lose your Internet connection (or if you’re getting on a plane), you can download Spotify songs into the company’s app and listen to them offline — for no extra charge.

Any drawbacks?

OK, so those were all the good things. What about the bad stuff?

Some analysts say Spotify will have a hard time busting into the U.S. market, which is already full of music streaming sites that are popular. Pandora says it has 100 million users, which makes it a particularly formidable foe.

There’s also some question about whether the Spotify model is actually good for the artists whose songs you’re listening to so freely.

Artists earn only $0.004 when you listen to one of their songs, according to analyst Mark Milligan, quoted by the BBC.

But, as the Twitter chatter shows, some artists support this alternative.

(CNN Student News) — May 31, 2011

Download PDF maps related to today’s show:

• Arlington National Cemetery
• Joplin, Missouri
• Texas

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: Back from the Memorial Day weekend, I’m Carl Azuz and this is CNN Student News! It’s a short week for us. It’s also our last week of the school year, so let’s go ahead and get started.

First Up: Remembering the Fallen

AZUZ: First up, Americans pause to honor service members who gave everything they had. Memorial Day is a tribute to the men and women who lost their lives while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Ceremonies were held around the country yesterday, President Obama helping lead the ones at Arlington National Cemetery. He laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and later visited Arlington’s Section 60; it’s a site that’s primarily for soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During a speech, the president said the courage, unselfishness and devotion to duty of the servicemen and women who gave their lives is what has sustained the country. President Obama also said that Memorial Day is about the families who have lost loved ones serving in the military. The wife of a fallen service member said she sees Memorial Day as a chance to celebrate her husband’s life.

NICKI BUNTING, WIDOW OF FALLEN SERVICEMAN: I want everyone to realize that these aren’t just graves; they aren’t just numbers. They’re real people, and they had real families. They had wives and husbands and children and parents and siblings and friends. And so, that’s what today is about, just celebrating their life and making sure that everyone knows that these are real people that we’ve lost. And so, when I get to talk about my husband, I love to laugh and smile when I talk about him and really share the great guy he was.

AZUZ: For the past 40 years, the 3rd U.S. Infantry has had a special assignment. They’re the ones who place flags on every gravestone at Arlington Cemetery for Memorial Day. That’s more than 250,000 flags! In this next report, two members share why they consider this responsibility an honor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEANT CHERRY SMITH, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Now that I’ve actually served and came from Iraq, they paved the way. So, without them, we wouldn’t be here.

STAFF SERGEANT BRADLEY FALLS, AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERAN: It’s especially an honor for us when you’ve been on the other side of it, and now you can come here and you can bring honor to their final resting place. Most of the leaders here are combat vets. They are coming from other units. They’ve deployed before. We all know somebody buried here personally.

SMITH: I thank them. I give thanks all the time for just doing what they did. There’s so many of us that have fear of doing what they did.

FALLS: During our fifteen months, my battalion lost 24 soldiers and our brigade lost, I believe, 44. We have three 173rd members buried here, to include my platoon leader, First Lieutenant Benjamin Hall. I try to visit him on special occasions, you know, his birthday or his passing. I usually sit down for a while and talk to him, let him know how things are going, how life is, and how much I appreciate his sacrifice and his leadership while we had it. He was a great man. Sometimes it’s a bit of a remembrance of good times and bad. You know, you’ve got comrades in arms that have died and you feel for them and you feel for your families, but you try to put that aside to give honor to those that you can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Is this legit?

STAN CASE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? More tornadoes strike the U.S. than any other country. This is true. The U.S. averages more than 1,000 recorded tornadoes every year.

Tornado Devastation

AZUZ: We’ve talked about a string of tornadoes hitting across parts of the U.S. recently. One of the deadliest in U.S. history struck Joplin, Missouri. Officials say this massive storm tore a 13-mile path across the city. Recovery efforts are getting started, and the president visited the area over the weekend. Dan Lothian has the details on that trip.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Before touching down, Air Force One flew over Joplin, Missouri, giving the president an aerial view of the devastation. What took months and years to build was destroyed in a few moments: homes, businesses and anything else in the tornado’s path. On the ground, it was a somber president surveying the breathtaking damage up close. Meeting with officials, survivors, and promising not to abandon this city.

U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: What I’ve been telling every family that I’ve met here is we’re going to be here long after the cameras leave. We are not going to stop until Joplin is fully back on its feet.

LOTHIAN: There is plenty of pain here, but also plenty of hope. Roadways were lined with thousands of people, some waving flags or holding signs with messages like "God bless Joplin." At a memorial service on the campus of Missouri Southern State University, that escaped the tornado’s wrath…

OBAMA: We will be with you every step of the way. We’re not going anywhere.

LOTHIAN: …President Obama thanked the people of Joplin for their courage.

OBAMA: You’ve banded together. You have come to each other’s aid. You’ve demonstrated a simple truth: that amid heartbreak and tragedy, no one is a stranger. Everybody is a brother. Everybody is a sister.

LOTHIAN: Recovering from one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history will not happen overnight, but Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is optimistic about the future.

GOVERNOR JAY NIXON, MISSOURI: Joplin will look different, and more different still in two years and three and five. And as the years pass, the moral of our story will be the same: love thy neighbor. God bless.

LOTHIAN: President Obama also had a message for people across the country, urging them to get involved by supporting organizations such as the Red Cross, which is providing food and shelter for all of the people who have been displaced by the tornado. Dan Lothian, CNN, Joplin, Missouri.

(END VIDEO)

Texas Wildfires

AZUZ: Moving southwest to Texas now, where officials and emergency workers are battling a different kind of natural disaster: wildfires. In fact, this has been one of the worst wildfire seasons in Texas history. Two blazes around the city of Amarillo forced hundreds of people to leave their homes this weekend. They were starting to come back yesterday as firefighters got the majority of those flames under control.

Dry and windy conditions are spreading the flames, though, and that is what the weather’s been like in Texas for a while now. This video, another wildfire, is from more than a month ago. In total, hundreds of homes have burned; millions of acres of land have been scorched by these wildfires.

Shoutout

MICHELLE WRIGHT, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today’s Shoutout goes out to Mr. Sommer’s and Ms. Bensfield’s students at Nichols Middle School in Evanston, Illinois! How many launches are left in the NASA space shuttle program? You know what to do! Is it: A) 0, B) 1, C) 2 or D) 3? Start the countdown at three seconds — GO! Atlantis is scheduled to make the next — and last — shuttle launch in July. That’s your answer and that’s your Shoutout!

Endeavour Undocks

AZUZ: Atlantis will be dropping off supplies and spare parts to the international space station. That’s scheduled to be the last shuttle mission. But the current one isn’t over yet. It’s getting close, though. This was the scene on Sunday, when the space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the ISS. It had been connected to the orbiting outpost for more than a week and a half. Now, Endeavour is on its way home. The shuttle is scheduled to land around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday. That’ll wrap up its 16-day mission to space. And once it’s back on the ground, Endeavour will head off into retirement.

Web Promo

AZUZ: We are not retiring, but we are wrapping up the school year this week. Doesn’t mean we’re going anywhere, and neither is CNNStudentNews.com. We’re planning to have special shows on our site all summer long, plus new blog posts. So, make us your home page and check out what we’re up to while you’re on break. You know the address: CNNStudentNews.com!

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, hope you’re not afraid of heights. For example, a pair of intersecting tight ropes over a giant canyon. Apparently the young lady you’re about to see right here has no fear. Or, she just knows it’s all an optical illusion. It’s actually the world’s largest 3D painting. It’s on a street in China. But it looks real enough that some people said they actually felt dizzy when they were standing on top of it. When it comes to this kind of artwork…

Goodbye

AZUZ: …That sounds like the highest of compliments. And it proves that the artist should have no illusions about the quality of his work. I think you see what we mean. Hope you have a great day. For CNN Student News, I’m Carl Azuz.

(CNN Student News) — June 1, 2011

Download PDF maps related to today’s show:

• Germany
• Joplin, Missouri

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: The start of a new month, the start of a new day of CNN Student News! Hi, I’m Carl Azuz, and I’m delivering your 10 minutes of commercial-free headlines.

First Up: Home Prices Drop

AZUZ: First up, we’re talking about a new low for the price of homes in the United States. During the first quarter — the first three months — of 2011, home prices dropped more than 5 percent from where they were last year. Now, that’s according to a new report that came out yesterday. And the comparison gets even worse when you go back a little farther. The housing market hit its highest point five years ago in 2006. Compared to that — that highest point — prices of homes have dropped almost 33 percent.

Home prices are down; so what? It might not be something that you think about every day, but some of your parents are paying close attention. Home prices affect a lot of other industries — like banks, like construction — so that’s one of the big indicators that experts use to figure out how the U.S. economy is doing. And prices have gone through kind of a double-dip. They went down after that peak in 2006. Then they went back up a little bit around 2009. Some government programs designed to encourage people to buy houses helped with that increase. But now, they’re dropping again. And one expert says it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon.

E. coli Outbreak

AZUZ: Officials in Germany are warning people there not to eat raw cucumbers, leaf lettuce, or tomatoes. The reason: an outbreak of E. coli. That’s a bacteria that can be transmitted through contaminated food or water, especially raw vegetables. Reports have connected at least 16 deaths to the outbreak. Hundreds of other people have gotten sick. German authorities are trying to contain the outbreak. In the meantime, scientists are trying to figure out where it started. They don’t have that answer yet. They think it could be traced back to produce from Spain. Germany buys more Spanish fruits and vegetables than any other country. And the concerns about those foods could cost Spain’s food industry millions of dollars.

Shoutout

STAN CASE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! What’s the term for when energy travels in particles or waves? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Diffusion, B) Sublimation, C) Radiation or D) Circumnavigation? You’ve got three seconds — GO! When energy is transmitted in particles or waves, it’s called radiation. That’s your answer and that’s your Shoutout!

Cell Phones & Cancer

AZUZ: The World Health Organization says that radiation from cell phones could possibly cause cancer. That announcement came after a group of scientists analyzed studies that have been done on cell phone safety. What this means is that the scientists found some evidence of an increase in certain types of cancer for cell phone users. They weren’t able to make any conclusions about other types of cancers. One expert says it’s hard because it can take several decades of exposure to see if there are any consequences. The wireless industry said the announcement does not mean cell phones cause cancer. It pointed out that the scientists didn’t do new research, but just reviewed studies that already existed. This announcement probably will lead to more research on the issue.

Tornado Recovery

AZUZ: Recovery efforts are getting started in Joplin, Missouri, and help is coming from some unexpected places. For example, a group of homeless volunteers from Kentucky. They collected donations for the tornado victims and then drove to Joplin to distribute them. Another unique source of help: an elephant from a circus that was supposed to perform in the area. The show, of course, couldn’t happen. But the animal was able to use its strength to help workers clear heavy debris from some areas. Many residents of Joplin are still coming to grips with the devastation that hit their hometown. Morgan Schutters of affiliate KODE reports on the tornado’s impact on the Joplin High School community.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

MORGAN SCHUTTERS, KODE REPORTER: Katie Wood graduated from Joplin High School just an hour before the tornado hit.

KATIE WOOD, JOPLIN HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI: Even looking at it, it’s still really hard to believe it.

SCHUTTERS: Now, she’s singing the national anthem at a memorial service for her classmates and the community.

WOOD: It’s so hard singing it right in front of my school that just blew away.

SCHUTTERS: But Joplin High School sophomore Chanci McGowen still has the rest of her high school career ahead of her, as she looks at what is left in shambles.

CHANCI MCGOWEN, JOPLIN HIGH SCHOOL SOPHOMORE: It’s indescribable. It’s horrible, just devastating to see all the destruction of my school, my home.

SCHUTTERS: McGowen is one of many students who lost both.

MCGOWEN: It was heartbreaking. My whole neighborhood is gone, but everyone’s OK.

SCHUTTERS: It was a somber afternoon as they gathered outside the school. A moment of silence honoring military and tornado victims. Eight people in the Joplin R-8 School District are confirmed dead: seven students and one staff member.

WOOD: Wondering who is still alive and who’s not.

SCHUTTERS: Superintendent Dr. CJ Huff said last Friday, when he got word, his world stopped. Sorrow for the lost and relief for the living.

CJ HUFF, SUPERINTENDENT, JOPLIN R-8 SCHOOL DISTRICT: As a result of your diligence and unwavering fortitude in the face of insurmountable challenges, 100 percent of our family are accounted for.

SCHUTTERS: Summer classes will begin as scheduled in less than three weeks, on June 13th.

(END VIDEO)

I.D. Me

MICHELLE WRIGHT, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. Me! I’m a famous landmark visited by millions every year. I’m located in Arizona. I was formed by the Colorado River. I’m the Grand Canyon, a huge rock formation that’s a mile deep.

All Work, No Play

AZUZ: The Grand Canyon’s a major vacation destination. The nearly 5 million people who go there every year prove that. But would the Canyon get even more visitors if American workers took as much vacation as employees in other countries? That’s what we’re talking about. When it comes to time off, the U.S. is not number one. Karin Caifa looks at some of the reasons why.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

KARIN CAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON, D.C.: Days at the beach, trips you’ll remember for a lifetime. That’s what summer is all about, right? Not for most American workers, who lag behind international counterparts in the vacation time given and the time taken. According to a survey by Expedia, workers in Great Britain got an average of 28 days’ vacation last year. In France: 37. Here in the U.S.: 18. And they only used 14.

So, what’s holding Americans back? With the economy still recovering, some workers are just happy to have a job to go to every day. And with staffing pared to bare bones during the recession, they’d rather be at their desks than on a guilt trip.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: We feel that we’re letting our colleagues down. We’re afraid of the work that’s waiting for us when we get back from vacation. And that guilt will make us not take the days off that we really need.

CAIFA: There are also the lingering financial concerns. A recent survey from CareerBuilder found one in four workers simply can’t afford a getaway this year. Twelve percent say they can afford it but won’t go. And only one in three said they felt more comfortable taking a vacation this summer than they did last year.

(END VIDEO)

Driving Knowledge

AZUZ: Sticking with the idea of hitting the road, it turns out about 37 million American drivers shouldn’t! According to a new survey, one out of every five people in the United States would fail a driving test if they had to take one today. And what’s even more strange: that’s an improvement! Last year, 38 million people — one million more — would have failed. This survey asked drivers from all 50 states 20 questions about basic driving knowledge. What do you do when you’re approaching a yellow light? What’s a safe following distance? Things like that. The concern is that not knowing the rules leads to dangerous driving habits.

Daily E-mail

AZUZ: Teachers, we know a lot of you get our daily e-mail. As you get ready to head off for the summer, you don’t need to unsubscribe. The email is not gonna come out every day. We’ll only send you something when we have something to say, like when one of our special summer shows goes up at CNNStudentNews.com. So stay subscribed; we will not spam you, we promise!

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, we’re checking out a barnyard brawl. Boom! Only problem is, this isn’t the barnyard. It’s somebody’s back yard! A flock of sheep showed up in a California neighborhood, and they didn’t want to go anywhere. Police surrounded the feisty flock and eventually had to call in animal control. It’s not like you could ask the sheep to leave nicely. I mean, you might try, but you know they wouldn’t go for it.

Goodbye

AZUZ: Those guys just look like they have baaaaad attitudes. Or maybe they were hoping not to get noticed so they could pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. That would have been shear genius. It’s always fun to see sheep on the lamb. But now that the whole thing’s over, I bet they felt sheepish about causing such a problem. They are known to have bleat-ing hearts. You can tell the year’s winding up, because we’re getting awfully punchy. For CNN Student News, I’m Carl Azuz.

(CNN Student News) — June 2, 2011

Download PDF maps related to today’s show:

• Libya
• Kennedy Space Center
• Charlotte, North Carolina

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, I’m Carl Azuz and this is CNN Student News! It’s June 2nd. And in our penultimate program of the school year, we’re starting things off on Wall Street.

First Up: Headlines

AZUZ: Talking about the stock market, and yesterday was not a good one. Experts use the Dow Jones Industrial Average to get an idea of how the whole market is doing. The Dow dropped 280 points yesterday. That is the worst drop since last August.

Next up today, northern Africa, where Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi’s forces are fighting against rebels in a civil war. Other countries are involved in this, too. The U.S., Britain, France: They’re part of a military coalition that’s being led by NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The goal of that coalition is to protect Libya’s civilians during this civil war, and NATO says it’s extending that mission for another 90 days. A lot of what the coalition’s been doing is carrying out air strikes, like these. They’re targeting Colonel Gadhafi’s forces, his compounds, and trying to limit his military resources. The conflict in Libya has been going on since February. Recently, several top officials have left Gadhafi’s government. That includes some generals in the Libyan army. One official who left the government yesterday said that it’s in shambles.

Debt Ceiling Debate

AZUZ: Turning to the U.S. government now, where a big topic on Capitol Hill is the country’s debt ceiling. That is the amount of debt that the government is allowed to have. President Obama wants the ceiling raised. Republicans in Congress say they won’t do that unless the government makes some cuts in spending. In fact, on Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted against the idea of raising the debt ceiling without making spending cuts. Christine Romans is here to help us get a better picture of what’s going on. Christine, let’s start off with the question, what exactly is the debt ceiling?

(BEGIN VIDEO)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: It’s basically America’s credit limit. Congress sets the cap on how much money the country can spend to pay its bills and to pay our interest payments. The debt ceiling is sort of like the credit limit on your credit card bill, only much, much bigger. And think of it this way: if you’re running a $3,000 balance on a $10,000 credit limit, the U.S. government, we run right up to our credit limit over and over again. And instead of paying it off, we just raise the debt limit.

How big is this pile of debt? $14.3 trillion. More precisely, $14,293,975,000,000. This is money the government has already spent. Stacked on top of each other — this is just to give you an illustration — $14 trillion would reach from the Earth to the moon more than four times. Your share of this pile of debt: about $47,000 for every man, woman and child in America.

We hit our debt ceiling, the debt limit, on May 16th. How are we operating now? The treasury secretary is juggling the bills that are coming in to keep the country from defaulting. He says we can go until August 2nd. After that, the situation, he says, is critical. Secretary Geithner says not raising the debt limit so America can pay its bills would be "catastrophic." It’s like being, he says, a homeowner with only enough money to pay some of the bills. You either pay the mortgage or you pay the credit card bills. Which one are you going to pick?

The government would like to pick and choose, would have to pick and choose what to pay. Geithner says some bills won’t get paid. Checks to millions of Americans, like Social Security, perhaps, would have to stop. Republicans say he’s wrong. The U.S. won’t default so long as we keep making interest payments on our bonds. All of it, a big political debate now.

But here you go, you guys: Congress has raised the debt ceiling 74 times since 1962; 10 times just since 2001. This is the first time it’s been so critical politically and turned into such a big ideological fight. For more information and complete coverage of the debt ceiling debate, you can check out more at CNNMoney.com.

(END VIDEO)

Political Check

AZUZ: Thank you, Christine. November 6, 2012 might sound like a ways away, but some people are working toward something that’s going to happen on that day: the U.S. presidential election. Campaign season is here, and before we head off for the summer, we want to give you an idea of where things stand.

On the Democratic side, President Obama has announced that he’s running for another term in office. But whom will he be running against? That will get decided through primary elections.

Those start happening once we get to 2012, and several Republicans have announced their candidacy. That includes former CEO and talk show host Herman Cain, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, U.S. Representative Ron Paul and former governors Gary Johnson and Tim Pawlenty. Another name you might know — former governor Mitt Romney – is expected to announce his candidacy today.

Some other big names have already said they won’t be running, and there’s always the possibility that more candidates will join the field.

Shoutout

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today’s Shoutout goes out to Mr. Shimasaki’s social studies classes at Valley High School in Santa Ana, California. What do these signal flags mean? You know what to do. Is it: A) Diver down, B) Stop immediately, C) Hurricane warning or D) Man overboard? You’ve got three seconds — GO! This double flag is the signal for a hurricane warning. That’s your answer and that’s your Shoutout!

Hurricane Season

AZUZ: Hurricane season is on! In the Atlantic Ocean, it lasts from June through November. That’s not the only time hurricanes can form, it’s just the time when they’re most likely to form. Forecasters who make predictions about how many hurricanes might form say this year is likely to be an above-average season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is predicting 12 to 18 named storms. It expects six to 10 of those to become hurricanes, with three to six strengthening into major hurricanes. Last year, zero hurricanes made landfall in the U.S., but experts say it’s always important to be prepared.

Shuttle Program

AZUZ: Coming in for a final landing: the space shuttle Endeavour touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday morning. It was the shuttle’s 25th and last mission. And this is the crew that did it: Endeavour’s astronauts, led by shuttle commander Mark Kelly, who said it was sad to see Endeavour land for the last time. As that ship heads into retirement, this is the one that will close out NASA’s space shuttle program: Atlantis, waiting on the launch pad, scheduled to go up on July 8th in the last shuttle mission.

Profits into Food

AZUZ: In Charlotte, North Carolina, there’s a restaurant that works on a kind of "pay it forward" concept. When you buy a meal there, you’re also paying to help feed other people who are in need. Tom Foreman looks at the ingredients that make up this unique story.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In busy downtown Charlotte, by lunchtime folks have built up an appetite. So at the King’s Kitchen Restaurant, that’s when the real building begins, because Chef Jim Noble’s goal every day is to help his diners help their community.

CHEF JIM NOBLE, KING’S KITCHEN: And I think everybody wants to help. They just don’t know how.

FOREMAN: Noble is one of the state’s most renowned chefs and deeply religious. So, he opened the King’s Kitchen a year and a half ago as a non-profit restaurant. The money made here goes to programs that feed the poor throughout the community. Last year, $50,000. Mindful of recessionary pitfalls that could derail this effort, the chef started by raising enough donations to open without any loans.

NOBLE: This is not the best time in the world to get in debt in a restaurant, you know. So, we wanted to do this debt-free.

Number five. And what does that say?

FOREMAN: The restaurant also offers job training for jobless people, folks such as Philip Lewis, who joined the program less than two months ago when he heard about it at church.

PHILIP LEWIS, KING’S KITCHEN: I’ve got more than I’ve asked for here. Faith, finances, everything I needed this place has given me. It’s a life-changing place. No matter where you are in your life, it will bring something positive to it that wasn’t there before.

FOREMAN: Sure, this non-profit restaurant competes with Chef Noble’s for-profit places, but he has faith there is room for all.

NOBLE: Sometimes in life, you have to make a distinction between success and significance.

FOREMAN: And for him, the significance lies in knowing every plate that goes out of the kitchen here means poor people are being fed all over town. Tom Foreman, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEO)

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, when the weather’s not fit for man nor beast, I guess you could send this out. It’s called the Big Dog. And it’s an all-terrain robot that can run, climb and carry heavy loads. It’s also designed to absorb shock. The guy’s not being mean; he’s just showing off the Big Dog’s stability. It handled the kick all right. Maybe not quite so stable on the ice. Someone could invent artificial little creatures that attack the Big Dog.

Goodbye

AZUZ: I guess you’d have to call them robo-ticks. But that’s a tail for another day. Just one more show to go. For CNN Student News, I’m Carl Azuz.

Many individuals do not realize that you can overcome hemorrhoids without the need for surgical operations or other different methods of hemorrhoid treatment procedures. Many individuals do not realize that you can overcome hemorrhoids always and forever. In truth, your body can in most cases overcome hemorrhoids always and forever with a bit of due care. When you are amenable to reforming your way of life to consistently do the things essential to support a healthy body, you could potentially overcome many afflictions, along with hemorrhoids.

You can go through surgery treatment to treat hemorrhoids but that just isn’t going to insure that the hemorrhoids are not going to return. The only way to make this happen is by reforming your food intake, by doing exercises and be patient when passing excrement. Your food intake should include quite a lot of fiber and liquids which can be found in fruits and veggies. You should exercise as that should reinforce your coronary heart as it is responsible for the flow of blood. During bowel movements be patient. Try not to apply pressure.

You can’t count upon any hemorrhoid treatment to overcome hemorrhoids always and forever. You really can’t expect to wipe out any predicament always and forever unless you remove the major cause for the predicament. Now you see, he magic formula is to know the factors that generate hemorrhoids and then to simply just better your living style do not do those things. Get into doing things to maintain your body. Modify your living style to allow for the prerequisites as written in this short article.

Thrombosis is in brief, the growth of a blood clot in the interior of an swollen artery or a vein. If left untreated it can cut off vital oxygen . This would kill cells. Thrombosed hemorrhoids are simply put veins in the interior of the anus or directly on the anus which embody clotted blood. This clotting causes the veins to swell up to produce a bulb. If the vein bursts then a bleeding hemorrhoid results.

Sometimes you can determine whether or not you’re afflicted with thrombosed hemorrhoids and often times you cannot. If you discover a bluish bulb directly on your anus it is more than likely a thrombosed hemorrhoid. often times you can touch it and note that it is hard. Most often thrombosed hemorroids bring about physical pain along with itching.
However Don’t assume all hemorrhoids,including thrombosed hemorrhoids are outside of your anus. The truth is Thrombosed hemorrhoids can often be in the interior of your rectum. Internal hemorrhoids are much more difficult to diagnose since they do not inflict physical pain and/or itching. Furthermore you are unable to see them.

Although thrombosed hemorrhoids are not typically harmful, if you happen to have them it’s to your greatest benefit to obtain them cleared up right away . Thrombosed hemorrhoids can pretty easily progress into bleeding hemorrhoids which might get infected. External infections, which might possibly come about from external hemorrhoids are relatively easy to heal after they’ve been identified. Internal hemorrhoids by contrast can advance into infections in the interior of your rectum which is often serious. They not merely are difficult to detect, they are also difficult to heal. If internal infections are not cleared up they can ultimately advance into blood poisoning which might be fatal.

There are numerous distinct sorts of hemorrhoid treatment that will perform successfully on thrombosed hemorrhoids. You can elect surgical treatment or decide on several all natural or holistic remedies. The key thing you’ll want to do to heal hemorrhoids would be to watch your eating habits. Ingesting daily meals made of nutrient rich foods like fresh fruits and green veggies goes a long way toward getting your hemorrhoids cleared up. Besides that it’s going to help keep hemorrhoids from occuring again. Besides watching your eating habits consuming lots of clean water and regular exercising can help a good deal. To stop the itching, discomfort, puffiness and general discomfort you should be able to discover any number of diverse sorts of balms and salves. Witch hazel is well-known for its potential to lessen discomfort and itching. Make certain to keep your butt nice and clean. Use topical antiseptics regularly.Sitting down a sitz bath can not simply keep your butt clean it can assist a good deal with soothing the inflamed region.

There are numerous variants and severity levels of hemorrhoids requiring different kinds of hemorrhoid treatment. For those cases where the hemorrhoids are specially problematic, a surgical operation could very well be the most appropriate method for treatment of hemorrhoids. . What is looked upon as problematic for one person might not appear to be quite so problematic for someone else. Generally speaking, if the outside of the anus is entirely covered with hemorroids that may be deemed problematic. Strictly speaking though, thrombosed hemorrhoids and also bleeding hemorrhoids really are situations when you probably want to go through a hemorrhoid treatment involving a surgical operation.

This post examines the wide array of particular hemorrhoid home remedies that involve a surgical operation . A few of the outdated variants of a surgical operation are extremely painful plus they’re known to take a considerable time to heal. On the contrary, a few of the modern variants of a surgical operation are not as painful but they are also exceptionally effective in curing hemorrhoids. If you are investigating a surgical operation for a hemorrhoid remedy ensure that you read through the entire content of this post to know what home remedies available.

Rubber Band Ligation is a commonly employed type of hemorrhoid a surgical operation . A very tiny rubber band about one mm across is pressed upon the bottom of the hemorrhoid by a specialised form of tool . The rubber band hinders the oxygen to the hemorrhoid. In somewhere around few days give or take the hemorrhoid withers and drops off making a scar.

Laser medical procedures is one more technique for the relief of hemorrhoids. A specialized kind of laser device is aimed straight straight into the hemorrhoid. Because of this the hemorrhoid is essentially burnt off of the outside of the anus instantly. This surgical treatment is typically completed without mandatory admission to the hospital. Also the usual disadvantages of a surgical operation such as bleeding are diminished primarily because the hemorrhoid is cauterized.

A Stapled Hemmorhoidectomy is a fairly widely used variety of hemorrhoid surgical removal . This variety of surgery stops hemorrhoids from bleeding which in turn alleviates the pressure brought about by the clotted blood. This surgery is typically undertaken on prolapsed hemorrhoids but it can work for any variety of bleeding hemorrhoid. This approach involves stapling the hemorrhoid with a specially designed circular staple.

A modern-day variety of hemorrhoid surgical removal consists of detecting all the swollen arteries supplying blood to the hemorrhoid thereafter stitching them to help cutoff the flow of blood to the hemorrhoid. Since the blood supply is hindered the hemorrhoid withers up and dies, leaving only a scar. This process is acknowledged as HALO which would mean Hemorrhoidal Artery Ligation Operation. This process is quite often acknowledged as HAL which would mean Hemorrhoidal Artery Ligation. This process is widely used mainly because it is fairly painless.