CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: New week, new show. I`m Carl Azuz. Glad to see you as we get started on CNN STUDENT NEWS this March 10.
A tragic mystery in South East Asia. Malaysia Airlines flight 370 took off early Saturday morning. It was headed from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China. 239 people, passengers and crew were on board. But less than an hour into the flight, it disappeared. No communication from the pilots, no distress calls. Last night, the search was still on for answers. Rescue teams were scouring the waters of the South China Sea where the plane might have been when it disappeared.
There was something unusual about the flight. Some of the people on it, weren`t who they said they were. Interpol, an international police organization says at least two of the passports used to board the flight were stolen in the past two years. Investigators will be looking into that.
But the priority is finding the plane. So officials can locate the flight data recorder and begin piecing together clues and building an explanation of what exactly happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time for the Shoutout. Alfred, Lord Tennyson`s poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" concerns what war? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is the Hundred Years` War, the Boer War, the Crimean War or American Revolution? You`ve got three seconds, go!
The poem was written about a battle in the Crimean War, which took place during the 1850. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.
AZUZ: Unlike the Crimean War itself, what we are seeing today in the region is more of a standoff? Although Russian President Vladimir Putin denies sending troops in the Ukraine, there has been a buildup of pro- Russian forces in Crimea where many Crimeans favor Russia. Putin says Crimea`s local government is following international law by preparing the hold of vote on whether the region should stay part of Ukraine or become part of Russia. But Ukraine`s news government and the U.S., which supports it say the vote will break the law by going against the Ukraine`s constitution. Everyone seems to agree that easing tensions in the area would be a good thing. Meantime, Farid Zakaria contrasts the present situation with pictures of the past.
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FARID ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: Over the past week images of troops massing in Crimea have been broadcast to millions around the globe. It so happens that the first ever official war photographs were from the very same region. In 1853 the Russian Empire fought the allied armies of the Ottoman Empire, France and Great Britain in the short, but brutal Crimean War that claimed the lives of three quarters of a million soldiers and for the first time photographers were able to give people a glimpse of what war was like. The most famous image, perhaps, is Roger Fenton`s "The Valley of the Shadow of Death," which showed cannonballs strewn throughout a valley. Some say it was the first staged war photo. That he moved the cannonballs into the road.
The technology didn`t allow for action shots, but the images captured the moments between battles. So, the folly of war was probably best articulated with the pen and paper. Listen to this, an 1890 recording of Alfred Lord Tennyson himself reading his famous poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade."
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(INAUDIBLE)
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ZAKARIA: So we can see, and we can hear what conflict over Crimea was like 160 years ago.
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AZUZ: Today`s Roll Call begins with an age old-question. Where is Wando? And when we are talking about as in Mount Pleasant, South Caroline, home of the Warriors at Wando High School. Moving west, we`ll make a stop at Ozark, Missouri. The Tigers are watching their Ozark Junior High School. And in Lennox, South Dakota our roll includes the Oreos. Glad to see you all in Lennox High School.
At Facebook.com/CNN STUDENT NEWS, Daniel told us that when applying to college, cost factors in for him. Kendra said cost, academics and curriculus. Travis wrote, location`s a factor, but financial situation is more important.
They are all echoing some findings of a recent freshman survey, conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles. Nearly 46 percent of students, a record high for the survey said costs were a very important factor in their college choices. About 49 percent also said financial aid was priority.
Concerns over costs may be having an impact on where students go. Last year, about 57 percent of students actually enrolled in their first choice school. That`s a record low for the survey. Though some students didn`t get admitted to their first choice. The survey also found that more students were applying to more schools. More than four colleges overall. It could be because they are trying to increase their chances of admissions. It could be because the common application, a service, makes it easier to apply to multiple schools at once.
It was a duel to the dearth of spelling savvy. We`ve told you about these two before. A couple of weeks ago, Kush Sharma, a seventh grader and Sophia Hoffman, a fifth grader, caused spelling bee judges to run out of words. After more than 60 rounds the Missouri students had gotten everything right. So, the followup, the rematch, the spell-binding toe to toe faceoff happened on Saturday. And after 29 more rounds the seventh grader prevailed when his younger competitor missed the word stifling. And he spelled the word definition correctly. Kush has had to do the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., but because these two are so smart and so young, an employee of the Kansas City public library says they could meet again at the country spelling bee next year. If that happens, they`ll probably have more words on him.
South by SouthWest, it`s going on right now in Austin, Texas. It`s sort of a hodge podge (ph) of events incorporating movies, music and media. There are trade shows where developers show off inventions, hoping for media buzz around the next big thing. One thing we found could connect a smartphone to a smarthome, creating a living environment that`s one step ahead of you.
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LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to the home of the future.
From the moment you step out of bed ...
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SEGALL: In this house, everything is connected by smartphone. It`s owned by tech entrepreneur Matt Mullenweg, an investor in SmartThings, the company responsible for all the technology.
(on camera): Your home is smart. What can you do? How does it know you are awake?
ALEX HAWKINSON, CEO AND FOUNDER, SMARTTHINGS: Yes. You can sense it based on motion, or you can coach to tell it good morning by hitting a button on the juggernaut and then you can see the house sort of senses it, the lights are coming on the bedroom.
(voice over): Work in to the kitchen.
(on camera): (INAUDIBLE) brewing the coffee - brilliant.
SEGALL: And the coffee is actually brewing behind me.
HAWKINSON: Coffee is actually brewing now.
(voice over): How is your commute? Your kitchen lamp will tell you. Green means no traffic.
HAWKINSON: You put in your sort of commute pattern and that chucks the - chucks the traffic and then it will tell this lamp to change colors based on the timing of our commute.
SEGALL: Your home can even tell you the forecast. Just open the door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The current temperature is 53 degrees.
SEGALL: SmartThings makes use of a hub that`s kind of like a router. Once you`ve installed it, you can download different apps on the SmartThings platform to control different devices.
HAWKINSON: Your home becomes programmable. In the same way you can put apps on your phone, you can install an app that - what type of coffee do you want to have brewed in the morning.
SEGALL: The tech is also being used to keep your kids safe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The chemical cabinet has been opened.
SEGALL: And here`s a cool one. Your connected home plays your music of choice when you step inside.
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SEGALL: It`s part of a large trend of technology moving beyond your smartphone.
(on camera): It sounds like - when you look at the app you`re texting with your home.
HAWKINSON: Yes. We wanted to make it very intuitive. So it makes it easier - people are used to tax things with each other. And we give your home a voice. We call it "Hello Home." And you can say good morning, and you can say good night. And have that react around you.
There`s at least one group in the cold part of the country that doesn`t want winter to end. It`s because the bitter cold and wind have made conditions perfect for snow kiting. All you need skis or snowboards, a frozen lake, a little wind and a giant kite. Minnesota reportedly has more people who do this than any other state in the union. It`s the land of tens thousands lakes. Many of them frozen, some folks there could be doing this until May. And no, we are not full of hot air. There is snow way you could do this and be bored. To get out there, you might have to pull a few strings, but once things get off the ground, on the leg there`s enough ice to sustain the whole kite and kabutu. CNN STUDENT NEWS takes off again tomorrow. Hope to see you all then.