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CNN STUDENT NEWS For July 10, 2002

Aired July 10, 2002 - 04:00   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN STUDENT NEWS seen in schools around the world because learning never stops and neither does the news.

MICHAEL MCMANUS, CO-HOST: We take a turn into Wednesday with news from Wall Street where President Bush called for a corporate conscience.

SHELLEY WALCOTT, CO-HOST: Our next pit stop is Spain, site of the global AIDS conference.

MCMANUS: And later, we meet a young man with a head for business.

WALCOTT: Then hold on to your seats, Student Bureau is taking us on a thrill ride.

MCMANUS: And welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Michael McManus.

WALCOTT: And I'm Shelley Walcott.

President Bush heads to Wall Street with a strong message for corporate America. He says enough is enough.

MCMANUS: In the wake of the WorldCom and the Enron scandals, Mr. Bush is promising to use the full weight of law to root out corporate corruption. The president proposed several steps yesterday, but Democrats say it's not enough.

CNN's Jonathan Karl will have more congressional reaction coming up. But first, Suzanne Malveaux has this report from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice over): In the heart of the symbol of corporate America, Wall Street, President Bush calling for a domestic war on corporate corruption.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America's greatest economic need is higher ethical standards, standards enforced by strict laws, and upheld by responsible business leaders.

MALVEAUX: It's the administration's goal to win American support and confidence. BUSH: The business pages of American newspapers should not read like a scandal sheet.

MALVEAUX: The worry, recent revelations of mega corporate scandal, leading to a loss in confidence in the market and a possible slowdown in the economy; Mr. Bush's aim to hold companies to higher ethical standards and give the government greater power to regulate and enforce them.

The president's guidelines include: an Executive Order to establish a financial crime SWAT team through the Justice Department to investigate corporate fraud; a doubling of prison time for CEOs guilty of abuse from five to ten years; greater powers for the Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC, including freezing CEOs assets while under investigation; more money from Congress for the SEC, a $20 million increase this year to hire 100 new investigators, $100 million the next year; a ban on corrupt CEOs forbidding them to serve in any future leadership capacity; tougher laws that would criminalize document shredding and other forms of obstruction of justice; the creation of a new independent regulatory board to police the accounting industry; and stricter requirements for companies to inform small investors and 401(k) holders about their stocks, critical to the president's plan bipartisan support.

Currently the administration is at odds with the broader legislation being pushed by the Democratic-controlled Senate. Democrats say the president's proposal does not go far enough.

REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D) MINORITY LEADER: Words alone will only raise the expectations of reform and dash the hopes of millions of people who are seeking real effective action.

MALVEAUX (on camera): The president knows he needs to send a strong signal to the American people that he's serious about economic reform. So despite some details that may not be to his liking in the legislation, aides say he is likely to sign it.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Even before the president's speech, Democrats were on the offensive, sounding what they hope will be an effective campaign theme for the November elections.

REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: This is a Republican majority in the house that is of, by and for corporate America.

KARL: Although the president on Wall Street echoed many longstanding Democratic ideas, Democrats said he didn't go far enough.

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: We need the president to lead on this issue. And giving a speech long on rhetoric and short on details, failing to support legislation in front of the Congress, that is supported by Democrats and Republicans, was a lack of leadership this morning.

REP. GEORGE MILLER (D), CALIFORNIA: The president has failed his responsibility of leadership to the American people in one of the worst economic crises that American families have suffered in recent times.

SEN. PHIL GRAMM (R), TEXAS: I think it is clear that no matter what the president does or says, that the Democrats have decided to try to make this a partisan political issue.

KARL: In fact, Republicans are resigned to the fact that Congress will pass and the president will sign Democratic bills tightening restrictions on the accounting industry. Many Republicans don't like these new regulations, but feel political pressure to support them anyway.

REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), MINORITY WHIP: The Democrats would like to regulate everything, would like to run everything. What we are going to do is not tie people's hands behind their back. We're going to shackle them and take them to jail.

KARL (on camera): Democrats have delayed their plan for reforming 401(k) plans until the fall, ensuring that Congress will be debating corporate responsibility right up until the November elections.

Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: Yesterday it all came down to the U.S. Senate in regards to approval of the Yucca Mountain storage facility. The mountain would hold all of the nation's nuclear waste. Both environmentalists and many in the state of Nevada were against the project. The most vocal arguments coming from the tourist mecca Las Vegas.

The site sits about 90 miles from the city, and CNN reporter John Vause traveled there to hear both sides of this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Nevada desert, arid, desolate country, still radioactive after decades of nuclear testing. And it seems almost certain that once again this will be the place for another great American nuclear experiment. This could be the world's first centralized storage area for radioactive waste, the final resting place for all of this country's spent nuclear fuel, the biggest nuclear graveyard on the planet.

SCOTT NORTHARD, XCEL ENERGY: We think the preponderance of evidence does show that, in fact, Yucca Mountain is a suitable site for spent fuel disposal. VAUSE: The U.S. Department of Energy wants to bury 77,000 tons of nuclear waste under Yucca Mountain, waste from 131 different sites in 39 states, which has slowly and steadily been building up for almost 50 years. Steel drums covered by titanium shields will hold the waste, buried in eight miles of tunnels, 1,000 feet under the mountain.

MAYOR KEVIN PHILLIPS, CALIENTE, NEVADA: It may be the very best place in our nation at this time to do this thing.

VAUSE: The Department of Energy is convinced that a combination of nature and high tech engineering will keep Yucca Mountain a stable, waterproof, airtight warehouse for the next 10,000 years. There are many who disagree.

GOV. KENNY GUINN, NEVADA: I think the preponderance of the science would show that at this point it hasn't been proven to be safe.

VAUSE: Environmentalists have found unusual allies in Nevada's governor and the mayor of Las Vegas.

MAYOR OSCAR GOODMAN, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: If they want to say that's safe, they are nuts.

VAUSE: Yucca Mountain rises on the western edge of the nuclear testing range. Scientists estimate between 12 and 15 million years ago, continental plates collided. The volcanic activity which followed former the rugged, sharp peaks. There are layers of tightly packed granite like rock, old and young rock fused together. It all adds up, say supporters, to an ideal location to store radioactive waste.

MICHAEL VOGELE, CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER, YUCCA MOUNTAIN: And so all the way down there you're going to see the same types of experimentation.

VAUSE: For the past 20 years, about twice as long as it took to put a man on the moon, the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars studying Yucca Mountain.

VOGELE: This is the tunnel up here.

VAUSE: In the past five years, digging a network of tunnels, conducting experiments, building computer models and trying to predict the future tens of thousands of years into the future.

VOGELE: We're doing tests on how the heat from the nuclear waste could affect the behavior of the rock. We're doing tests about how the chemistry of the rock and water in the tunnel would affect the behavior of some of the components that would be in that repository.

A 10,000 year period is what's really of interest to model.

VAUSE: Michael Vogele is the chief science officer for the Yucca Mountain project. These days, he's more tour guide and salesman, convincing reporters and Nevada residents that the project is safe, that the Department of Energy has it right. For a few days every month, the site is open to the public.

(on camera): And the importance of that is what?

VOGELE: It gives people an opportunity who want to see what's going on out here a chance to come out and talk to the scientists and see what this tunnel looks like.

VAUSE (voice-over): In the battle over Yucca, the P.R., it seems, is just as important as the science.

VOGELE: Every experiment we're doing here is to understand how to build a computer model which will allow us to predict the behavior of this rock with a repository in it over 10,000 years.

VAUSE: Scientists have built a smaller replica repository with heat from electricity instead of nuclear waste, running heaters for 36,000 hours at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit. And so far, no surprises. The mountain and the rock, they say, have reacted exactly as predicted. But there are still some concerns.

VOGELE: Well, I think the biggest danger would be that if were completely wrong on how much water could move through this mountain. I think that is the situation I'd be most worried about. We take the earthquakes into consideration in our models. We take the volcanism into consideration in our models and we do the best we can trying to take the movement of ground water into consideration. And I think that if there were something that could cause a significantly larger amount of water to move through the mountain, I think that could be of concern.

VAUSE: Scientists estimate that for the next 600 years, less than five millimeters of water will move through the mountain every year. But if they're wrong, more water could cause the manmade canisters holding the waste to corrode and break down faster than thought, allowing radioactive particles to wash into the water supply.

Yucca Mountain is about 90 miles from Las Vegas, the fastest growing city in the United States. And here, among the 1.4 million residents, there is overwhelming mistrust.

The director of Nevada's Nuclear Agency, Bob Loux.

BOB LOUX, NEVADA NUCLEAR AGENCY: I certainly think that they're very politically motivated. I think there's incredible political pressure from the nuclear industry, from the Congress, to get these things going, and I think that in many cases they're probably willing to say anything in order to try to get the project in a more favorable light.

VAUSE: The State of Nevada has been fighting the repository for years, and the battleground has been on the scientific front. It's a confusing, often heated argument with both sides accusing the other of blatant misrepresentation. One example, the containers which will store the radioactive waste, made of Alloy 22, a new nickel and titanium based metal. The Department of Energy has faith the containers will stand the test of time.

(on camera): And do we know how long that would last before it's corroded?

VOGELE: The Alloy 22?

VAUSE: Yes.

VOGELE: The models show it would last tens of thousands of years.

LOUX: The Alloy 22, the material that will be used for the waste packages, scientists again, corrosion people working for us say no metal is going to survive more than 1,200 years underground at Yucca Mountain, they don't care what it is. It's a reducing, oxidizing environment because of lead and mercury and other heavy metals in the water at Yucca Mountain. It will chew up any sort of metal underground at Yucca Mountain.

VAUSE: There is also debate about the potential volcanic activity. In mid-June, the region was struck by a magnitude 4.4 earthquake. Scientists at Yucca Mountain, 12 miles from the tremor's epicenter, say they found no damage. Opponents say that is proof the region is unstable and even without an earthquake, they say the mountain itself will not offer complete protection from the radiation.

So what's the truth?

KEVIN CROWLEY, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE: There is no yes or no answer to that question.

VAUSE: Kevin Crowley is a scientist with the National Academy of Science in Washington, a think tank formed by Congress to give independent information to the government.

CROWLEY: All of the science is not in. There's more work that needs to be done.

VAUSE (on camera): So right now the best that can be said about Yucca Mountain is that it's potentially adequate?

CROWLEY: In my personal opinion, yes, it's potentially adequate.

VAUSE: That's it?

CROWLEY: That's it at this point.

VAUSE (voice-over): Hardly a ringing endorsement, but enough, say supporters, to move this process to the next stage, to get congressional approval to just apply for a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. CROWLEY: So I think it's important to recognize that if Congress decides to move forward with Yucca Mountain, that does not mean that we will have a repository there. What it means is that the Department of Energy will be allowed and given the funding to develop a license application.

VAUSE: The Department of Energy must then prove overwhelmingly that the project is safe. If it does, the NRC will authorize construction. But there is a feeling in Nevada that the decision has already been made. No matter what is said or done, the repository will be given the go ahead. And for many here, there's good reason to doubt anything the federal government says when it comes to anything nuclear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, zero time, area four.

VAUSE: Forty years ago, the people of this state were assured that above ground nuclear testing was safe, not only was it safe, but they were invited to sit on park benches to marvel at the blinding flash of light, the bright orange and red colors in the sky, the spectacular mushroom clouds.

GOODMAN: Now, they are paying those folks $50,000 for double mastectomies, for dying of horrible cancers.

VAUSE: Oscar Goodman is the mayor of Las Vegas. He is brash, outspoken, has even threatened to use his police force to arrest truck drivers carrying nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. That scenario is unlikely, but the mayor knows how to get publicity.

GOODMAN: I don't believe Washington. I don't them one minute. They're trying to create a fraud upon Nevada and it's going to backfire because it's going to affect other parts of the country.

VAUSE: If Yucca Mountain is approved, it's unlikely to be operational before 2030, so right now Mayor Goodman and other Nevada politicians are trying to convince the rest of America it, too, is at risk.

GOODMAN: The nation's problem is how you get the junk out here. It has to travel through the entire United States. So it's a national problem.

VAUSE (on camera): One of the main arguments for Yucca Mountain is national security. U.S. officials say after September 11, it's crucial that the country's nuclear waste is kept in one safe and secure location. But opponents are also arguing terrorist threats, only they say the transportation of radioactive material, thousands of shipments by road and rail every year for 30 years, is far more dangerous than leaving it where it already is.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: The only way it can get here is through the highways and railways of this country. And remember, they're talking about hauling over 100,000 truckloads and over 20,000 train loads of this stuff. It goes through people's neighborhoods, through their school yards or by their school yards. Everything we do in America is going to be affected by this stuff.

VAUSE: Even the Department of Energy concedes there will inevitably be accidents during transportation. But it says the special lead lined canisters like the one seen here in this video have undergone rigorous testing, through fire and collisions, dropped from cranes.

Marvin Fertel represents the Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington lobby group pushing hard for Yucca.

MARVIN FERTEL, NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE: There's been about 20,000 shipments of used nuclear fuel over in Europe and actually if you think about it, Europe has had terrorism for many, many years. Nobody has attacked their shipments because they're well protected and also it's very hard to damage it. I mean these are in very robust containers of steel and concrete a foot and a half to two feet thick. They're designed to withstand almost any kind of accident that you can foresee.

So, I mean, yes, the answer to your question is yes, we can protect it if we ship it.

VAUSE: In the United States, there have been 2,700 shipments of radioactive material over the past 30 years, all without public harm. Today, most of the nuclear waste is being stockpiled at the nuclear power plants, medical facilities and military bases. And if the anti- Yucca forces had their way, they'd leave it there until a better alternative can be found. And it could remain there safely, officials say, for the next hundred years, maybe longer. But when it comes to radioactive waste, which remains deadly for hundreds of thousands of years, a hundred or so years can pass very, very quickly. After all, the waste has already been piling up now for almost half a century.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: And this story continues online. Head to CNNSTUDENTNEWS.com for the latest.

MCMANUS: And in "Chronicle" today, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson was shouted down by screaming protesters at the 14th Annual International AIDS Conference in Spain. The protesters were demanding more U.S. funding for the fight against AIDS. Experts say rich nations will need to donate at least $10 billion a year to bring the AIDS epidemic under control. Overall spending this year was close to $3 billion. Thompson said the U.S. is committed to the AIDS fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: I understand that people want to yell and scream. They would serve their cause much better if they would try and get other countries to contribute to the global fund, like the United States has; if they would help other countries see the light to give as much as the United States is.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MCMANUS: And on the scientific front, researchers are testing new AIDS drugs and even a vaccine.

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: A new drug, offering new hope, for the estimated one million Americans infected with the HIV virus.

DR. DANI BOLOGNESI: T-20 is very different in that it blocks a process that prevents the virus from entering the cell altogether.

GUPTA: If approved by the FDA, T-20 would be added to the cocktail of drugs currently taken by HIV patients, and the drug couldn't come at a better time, because some infected people are already building a resistance to current medications.

BOLOGNESI: Virus is emerging, which is resistant to the existing drugs, and what is needed is a new class of agents that specifically attacks multi-drug resistant virus.

GUPTA: But the new drugs weren't the only highlight Monday at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, but researchers also unveiled a new vaccine trial for fighting HIV.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Now, people feel this burst of energy that, now we're going to get to the real answer empirically. What does it do in the trenches?

GUPTA: The trial, to be run in Thailand by the U.S. government, is not the first, but it is the largest, with 16,000 volunteers. It will be five years and $36 million before results are known. If successful, they could have the vaccine available in five to seven years.

But the real dilemma with building a vaccine is that HIV is unlike other diseases. No one has kicked HIV on their own, so researchers don't have a model to design a vaccine after.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Barcelona, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is CNN STUDENT NEWS "Perspectives."

WALCOTT: AIDS is an issue that also concerns young people around the world, one of many topics on their minds, things like war and violence and poverty. A nearly unprecedented event recently took place at the United Nations, children, some as young as 12 years old, stepped up to the mike to have their say about the issues affecting them.

Kathy Nellis has more on the U.N. campaign to Say Yes For Children. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHY NELLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nelson Mandela was on hand for the close of the Children's Forum at the United Nations to receive a message from young people around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, Mr. Mandela, tell the General Assembly that if they are wondering if anyone cares about what they do or don't do that more than 94 million people are watching and waiting for their leadership.

NELLIS: Those 94 million include children who pledged their support and voiced their concerns online or by paper ballot as part of the Say Yes campaign, a global movement for children.

The Children's Forum is a prelude to an event that brings together the heads of state and official delegations from around the globe.

(on camera): The Special Session on Children is an unprecedented meeting of the United Nations General Assembly dedicated to the children and adolescents of the world.

(voice-over): The event was originally scheduled for mid- September 2001, but was postponed after the 9/11 attacks. U.N. leaders say violence like that only underscores the need for the conference.

ANNAN: When you read the newspapers and look at the names, we are so focused on peace and security and violence. But to deal with that we need to tackle the root causes which is a show (ph) of economic development meaning preparing the future leaders, help (ph), education for the young and the children.

NELLIS: To bring that point home, children addressed a Special Session of the U.N. Security Council for only the second time in history.

WILMOT WUNGRO (ph), AGE 16, LIBERIA: My name is Wilmot from Liberia. I am 16 years old. At age 5 I fled from Liberia with my mother to Sierra Leone. I was too young at the time to really understand what was happening. I heard sounds of guns, I saw people running, I saw people shooting. I saw people being killed, I saw people dying. People as young as I was were dying.

ELIZA KANTARDZIC, AGE 17, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: I have brought a message with me from all of the children from the Children's Forum, war and politics have always been an adult's game but children have always been the losers.

Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

NELLIS: The Special Session provides a voice for young people and a chance to rub shoulders with world leaders. ZAKKEETYAH BINTI-ZAINDDIN (ph), STUDENT: We come from all around the world just to see you and we are very excited to be here today.

ANNAN: The fact that you are here today participating in this children's summit is important. And I think I'm really happy that you have started becoming engaged in issues of the world and issues which affect you and the future right now, but we are working hard to make the world a better place.

KAFUKI MYIENEGHANGA, STUDENT: What is the United Nations doing to help children who are HIV positive?

Thank you.

ANNAN: The HIV/AIDS is one of the big problems that we have in the world today. And it is also one of the issues which I have made my personal priority. And we are trying to ensure that we can get assistance informal (ph) educating people about prevention, giving them care and giving them material assistance around the world.

BIBHA SHAM, STUDENT, NEPAL: We want no young person to live in poverty. We want all young people, regardless of gender, color or creed, to be treated equally and to ensure that their basic needs are met. We challenge all people to eliminate discrimination and to promote peace and tolerance through intercultural understanding.

NELLIS: The Children's Forum and the Special Session on Children are a catalyst, a call to action for the nations of the world.

ANNAN: If we are going to improve the situation and save societies, we should start with the children. They are the leaders of tomorrow.

NELLIS: And children are already helping to build those tomorrows today.

Kathy Nellis, CNN, The United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: Our "Business Report" today focuses on a 15-year-old who likes computers, spends a lot of time on the phone and has some big dreams for the future. These are all many things teenagers have in common, but the young man we're about to profile is already well on his way to success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF CREELY (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like any other kid his age, Shazad Mohamed loves to kick back and listen to his music. But you don't have to spend very much time with him to realize this is not your typical 15-year-old. No, Shazad is the CEO of a Web design business he started when he was just 12 and now has revenue quickly approaching a million dollars a year.

SHAZAD MOHAMED: Yes, we've developed a logo. CREELY: In fact, business is so good he's about to go public and expand his staff of 15, most of whom are twice his age.

MR. MOHAMED, FATHER: Shazad was extremely curious. He wanted to...

CREELY: His father says Shazad has been interested in technology for as long as he can remember.

MR. MOHAMED: He's really a super genius. I mean he's absolutely brilliant.

CREELY: So smart that by his early teens he was meeting the rich and famous of the computer world, including Bill Gates, a man who many have compared him to.

S. MOHAMED: I think that the real thing and goal is you know not to become the next Bill Gates but to be bigger than Bill Gates. I mean really take it to a whole new level.

CREELY: Yes, he certainly has drive, even though he won't be able to legally drive for a couple of months. In the meantime, his father takes him to power lunches.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.

S. MOHAMED: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you?

S. MOHAMED: Pretty good.

CREELY: Oh sure, meeting with clients can be awkward at first, especially if they're expecting someone a lot older. But once they get down to business, the apprehensions seem to vanish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quite mature, quite knowledgeable, and again, he did the job for quite -- with perfection in fact.

CREELY: So, Bill, watch out, there's a computer whiz in Texas who started his company at an even earlier age than you did yours and who happens to believe that becoming the next Microsoft is setting your sights too low.

Jeff Creely reporting for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMANUS: And we turn now from a young man on the way up to fun seekers going up, down and all around.

WALCOTT: All around.

MCMANUS: If you have an innate craving for adventure, summer might mean a trip to an amusement park, Shelley.

WALCOTT: And that means roller coasters, some of which are nothing short of breathtaking.

Our Student Bureau looks at the thrill behind some heart-racing, stomach-dropping rides.

MCMANUS: Let's go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB DRISCOLL, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): Risk takers like these say nothing beats the adrenaline rush of a thrill ride. But is falling 200 feet at 70 miles an hour really fun? These riders say that it is.

JOSE LOPEZ, ROLLER COASTER RIDER: It's exciting because it's like life -- it's like you know life threatening a little bit, but then at the same time you know you're secure.

ANTONIO DELGADO, ROLLER COASTER RIDER: That's my favorite. The straight drop is like one or two seconds but it's so intense.

LOPEZ: And just the whole experience of going up and down and flying upside down, just something you can't do in the ordinary life.

DRISCOLL: The Internet group (ph), the Roller Coaster database (ph), shows that as many as 26 new roller coasters were opened in 2002, attracting over 320 million visitors.

JOHN ODUM, SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA: I think the reason that people like to ride coasters is it's an opportunity for you to feel a little bit on the edge but you know you're always in control.

DRISCOLL: According to Six Flags Over Georgia's General Manager John Odum, it's not just teenagers who are attracted to roller coasters.

ODUM: I was standing on the exit of Superman the other day, coincidentally enough, and an 83-year-old grandmother with grandkids in tow came off. And she said, you know I've ridden a lot of roller coasters in 83 years and that's far and away the best. And I think that's the truest testament to the span of ages that ride coasters.

DRISCOLL: There are nine different versions of Superman the ride all around the world. Although other rides are similar, the Superman Ultimate Flight is the only coaster of its kind in the southeast that straps riders in face down to simulate actual flying.

ODUM: The great thing about this ride is it takes the track out of the picture. You don't see the track and all you really see is the ground below you.

DRISCOLL (on camera): The Superman ride of flight actually looks like this except the seat tips forward giving you the effect of flying. This effect is making the Superman Ultimate Flight a main stop for thrill seekers here at Six Flags Over Georgia.

LOPEZ: I mean it's awesome. You know it feels like, you know, you're flying like Superman.

BEN INMAN, ROLLER COASTER RIDER: And I went like that.

DRISCOLL: Did you?

INMAN: I went like Superman.

ODUM: This is the only coaster of its type where you actually enter a loop at the top and go down through the loop and so at the bottom of the loop you're on your back. There's no other coaster anywhere that creates that sensation.

DRISCOLL (voice-over): When there is a ride as popular as Superman Ultimate Flight, one thing that can be expected are long lines. But parks like Six Flags are introducing a device known as the Q-bot to help solve the wait.

ADRIAN RICHARDSON, BOOTH OPERATOR: I'm at the ride reservation system that we have in the park. It holds a guest's spot in line so that they don't have to actually stand there and can go and enjoy other things throughout the park like watching shows, playing games or standing in shorter ride lines.

DRISCOLL: Whether it's the flips, turns, speed or incredible height of roller coasters and other thrill rides, there is something that keeps people coming back and something that attracts new people every season. Riders look at roller coasters and see speed and an out of control yet in control experience.

Bob Driscoll, CNN Student Bureau, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

"Where in the World" this organization was founded in 1945, comprised of six principal organs, primary purpose: maintaining international peace and security? Can you name this place? United Nations.

WALCOTT: And we'll have more on the United Nations tomorrow.

MCMANUS: That's right, Shelley. We'll take a look at journalists from all over the world speaking out for freedom of the press. And we will see you then.

WALCOTT: Have a good one. Bye-bye.

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