CNN news 2012-01-25 加文本

cnn news 2012-01-25

AZUZ: Someone who definitely knew that answer is Samantha Garvey. She`s the focus of our next report from Mary Snow. Thanks to Garvey`s research on mussels, the high school student is in the running for an award that comes with a $100,000 scholarship. It`s tough competition, but Garvey has some experience overcoming adversity.

MARY SNOW, cnn REPORTER (voice-over): Seventeen-year-old Samantha Garvey is an aspiring marine biologist with a keen sense of tough shells.

SAMANTHA GARVEY, INTEL CONTEST SEMIFINALIST: They all congregate with each other.

SNOW (voice-over): She`s spent years studying mussels and how they protect themselves. But at New York`s Brentwood High School, she`s learned some lessons of her own about being tough when the odds are stacked against you.

She was chosen as a semi-finalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search. But Samantha got the exciting news at a homeless shelter. Her family`s been living there since being evicted from their home December 31st.

S. GARVEY: It`s worrisome, you know. It`s just been really worrisome, because you think where am I going to be? Like if something doesn`t come through, am I going to be in a homeless shelter?

SNOW (voice-over): Samantha`s parents were both injured in a car accident last year. They both lost time at work, which caused them to fall behind on bills.

As the family struggled, Samantha says she got her inspiration from school and her science teacher, Rebecca Grella, a two-time breast cancer survivor.

S. GARVEY: She told us her story. I thought, wow, that is amazing. And I took that from her.

SNOW: How does it feel to hear this?

REBECCA GRELLA, TEACHER, BRENTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL: It works both ways. What I take from Sam is her humbleness, her ability to reach out to others, to give effortlessly.

SNOW (voice-over): Samantha`s story grabbed the attention of officials in New York`s Suffolk County. They are now providing the Garvey family with public housing.

S. GARVEY: This is -- you know, this is just the most amazing thing you could ask for. I know everyone -- we`re all in tears here, like we can barely compose ourselves enough to speak.

SNOW (voice-over): With the tears, there was disbelief from Samantha`s mother, Olga.

OLGA GARVEY, SAMANTHA`S MOTHER: I break in tears sometime. What? This happened? And say, yes. This is happening.

SNOW (voice-over): Samantha`s father says his daughter`s always been a fighter, weighing only two pounds when she was born.

LEO GARVEY, SAMANTHA`S FATHER: She`s gone from one little tiny thing to a giant, a giant of a woman.

SNOW (voice-over): Mary Snow, cnn, Brentwood, New York.

AZUZ: Excellent story there. Onto our first blog report of 2012. We heard a common theme in your responses to last week`s blog post at cnnstudentnews.com. We asked you what a president or governor should consider when pardoning a criminal.

From Ariana: what needs to be reviewed is the severity of the crime. The only people who should be let out are the ones who are not a threat to society.

Ally says leaders should look at what the crime was, what the criminal`s behavior was like, and how long they`ve been in custody. She adds, "It sends a bad message of even if you are convicted, you don`t always have to pay the full penalty."

Nicole asked, "What if the criminals haven`t changed? What if they might do something like that again?"

And Ian adds that officials should consider whether the criminal can get a job or if he has a place to live and family support.

Olivia suggests that governors look really hard at the criminal`s background before giving him or her a pardon.

And Will says if someone is convicted of a murder, then it would be the smarter or common sense answer not to let them out of jail.

AZUZ: All right. Before we go today, we are visiting a playful conversation in Alabama.

AZUZ (voice-over): From skyscrapers all the way down to the street, everything here is built by blockheads.

This is a Lego convention. Fans and builders came together for the recent event. Some of these creations are no joke. One display uses around half a million pieces, and is estimated to be worth $200,000.

For many Lego fans, the hobby began when they were kids. They started off small, and then --

AZUZ: -- things built from there. This story had us toying around with several "punsibilities," like it`s time for us to Lego of your attention. But we hope you`ll block out 10 minutes again tomorrow for more cnn Student News. See you then.