Arielle: Hey guys. It is Thursday, October 29. I am Arielle Hixson and Channel One News starts right now.
Let's jump right into what's making news. Last night, the top Republican candidates running for president were at it again, participating in the third debate. This one focused on the economy, jobs and taxes.
The top ten candidates battled it out last night at the debate hosted by CNBC at the University of Colorado Boulder. For the first time, a CBS news poll, out just before the debate, showed Donald Trump was trailing Ben Carson. Not only in the important state of Iowa, but nationally.
Donald Trump: I don't like being second. Second is terrible to me.
Ben Carson: I'm just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. And that is telling the truth.
Arielle: Experts say debates which focus on fiscal policy, or how much money the government spends, borrows and taxes, usually favor candidates who have held office and understand how setting a government budget works.
Next up, the sheriff’s deputy seen on video violently removing a student from her desk in South Carolina has been fired from his job.
The sheriff said Deputy Ben Fields did have the right to put his hands on the student to remove her from the classroom, but he went too far.
Leon Lott: Deputy Fields did not follow proper training, did not follow proper procedure, when he threw student across the room.
Arielle: Fields' actions have outraged many in the community, including parents, about a dozen of whom voiced their opinions at a Tuesday night school district board meeting.
Craig Cornwell: You guys, you are responsible for these people!
Arielle: Classmates of the student say the confrontation began when a teacher repeatedly asked her to put away her cell phone during class. Fields is still the target of a federal investigation that could take several weeks.
The sheriff said another unreleased video shows the student hitting the officer before he put his hands on her, but did not say that justified the officers’ response.
Now, the grades are in for our nation's performance in math and reading, and they show a drop in scores.
Average math scores for students in fourth and eighth grade went down, as did the average reading score for eighth graders. Reading levels for fourth grade students stayed the same. Gaps between black and white students and poor and wealthy students remained unchanged.
It is the first time a drop in math has happened since the test first started in 1990. The test is administered every two years by the National Assessment of Education Progress and the results come as many states made big changes to their education standard, including the Common Core state standards.
Alright coming up, some new rules are being tossed into the high school football field.
The spotlight is on the high school football field after several students died from injuries. And now a leading group of doctors is saying we need to change the way we play the game, calling for an end to hard head hits. Tom Hanson has the story.
Tom: Friends and family gathered over the weekend in Illinois to remember 17-year-old Andre Smith who suffered a fatal injury playing football for his high school. The high school senior in Chicago collapsed during a game last week after taking a hit right at the end of the fourth quarter. Though he was rushed to a local hospital, he died there the following morning.
Male: Whenever I needed him he was always there. And he was always there for anybody, whoever needed him.
Tom: Over the weekend, the Cook County medical examiner ruled the death accidental, caused by blunt force head injuries due to football.
Male #2: You understand the risks, but it's a game you know. It's a game.
Tom: Smith is the seventh high school football player this year to die in the U.S. Just days ago, Cam'ron Matthews of Texas passed away after collapsing on the sidelines. And last month, Evan Murray of New Jersey died from a lacerated spleen he suffered during a game.
Now you may be wondering why there are so many of these cases at the high school level and not for college athletes or the pros. Well, that's because there are 10 times more high school players. An estimated 1.1 million high schoolers in the U.S. play American football annually. That’s compared to about 100,000 at the professional and collegiate level.
Before you hang-up the pads and helmets, it is important to note that football has actually gotten safer over the years. According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, there have been fewer than 10 head and neck fatalities per year for the past 25 years. And the last 10 years have recorded the lowest number of head and neck fatalities since data collection began back in 1931.
In fact, you are far more likely to die from a car crash than playing football.
Still, experts say that more needs to be done to prevent these tragedies from happening.
Earlier this week, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued new guidelines aimed at improving the safety of youth football. The recommendations included having athletic trainers on sidelines of games, offering non-tackle football games as an alternative, and zero-tolerance for illegal head-first hits.
Greg Landry: There's too many head-to-head hits, and leading with the head, known as spearing, that's been against the rules since 1976. And for some reason, referees and coaches have gotten away from enforcing that rule.
Tom: To Andre Smith's teammates, his brother had this to say.
Erick Smith: Just be aware, protect yourself, be cautious, because something just as simple as a football injury can end a whole life.
Tom: Tom Hanson, Channel One News.
Arielle: And we have got a sports injuries quiz on our website. Let's see how you do.
Sports injury severity increase with age; true or false? The answer is on Channelone.com.
Alright coming up, how artwork may be the key to putting a storm in the past.
Three years ago today, Superstorm Sandy tore through New York and New Jersey, leaving a path of destruction along the eastern seaboard. Keith Kocinski shows us how students from New Jersey are finding creative ways to reflect on the storm that turned their world upside down.
Alaina Renee: My friend was by the beach, so we went down to the beaches and I just remembered how everything was wrecked.
Jack Held: My mom’s house in Belmar was completely flooded. And it destroyed the foundation.
Keith: It has been called the storm of the century. Superstorm Sandy hit land on October 29, 2012, walloping New Jersey, New York City, and much of the northeastern part of the United States.
Hurricane force winds, intense rain, and massive surges of water that wiped out entire neighborhoods, leaving behind billions of dollars of damage and claiming the lives of over 100 people in the U.S.
For many of those who weathered the storm, the trauma was far from over.
Jack Held: We had to move from house to house for somewhere to live.
Keith: Some, like Jack Held, are still waiting to get back in their homes, now three years later. People on the New Jersey coast continue to live with the anxiety from the memories of the storm and life after.
Mary Gambarony: I think sometimes we are not aware of that long-term impact that that might have and some of the issues that they may have to work through; maybe the self-esteem issues, maybe making friends, some of the social issues that have happened as a result of those situations.
Keith: Mary Gambarony is an art therapist at Riverview Medical Center in New Jersey. Art Therapy uses a variety of different art forms like painting, sculpting, music, or photography, promoting self-expression to help diagnose and overcome physical and emotional trauma.
Mary works closely with young people here who find healing and hope behind the lens of a camera. Teens that lived through Sandy take part in 8 hours of photography training and then put their new skills to action.
Alaina: I love photography because you can really capture moments in time and make them last forever.
Keith: For students there's only one requirement when taking photos, think about where they find hope in their community.
Dolcina Carrol: It's a really good way to express yourself and any thoughts you have that you can't put into words.
Alaina: I feel like it could be about taking pictures of things that make you happy that could just soothe you and take the pain away.
Keith: At this exhibition at the Collective Art Tank in Asbury Park, New Jersey, are the photos of what was once turned upside down by Sandy, now captured by these teens in a new look. The beach, water, and landscape, now calm.
Why do you believe art and photography is important to people who have experienced trauma?
Gambarony: I think any outlet that provides us a space to work through what we need to work through and allow something to be created out of that, maybe out of pain and devastation. That’s very beneficial in the healing process.
Keith: Pain turning to peace in the form a picture.
Carrol: Really just distracting me from what’s going on, to not have my mind on it all the time. It’s just been another thing for me to enjoy.
Keith: Keith Kocinski, Channel One News.
Arielle: Now if you have been inspired, just keep sending us your artwork on Instagram, using the #ch1artwork.
Alright guys. We are out of time, but we can’t wait to see you tomorrow.