>> eric: welcome to assignment 7. today on our program. how stanford is trying to turn rubber into human skin that is sensitive to the touch. >> what if your streets are so confusing your mail can't be delivered? a couple finds out their address doesn't exist. >> eric: and meet the man who has been on california's payroll longer than anyone else. >> we begin in contra costa county where supervisors took one step in a long budget cutting process. >> i know this is tough but it's right thing to do. >> reporter: what supervisors did was vote to eliminate a

longstanding vacation buyback policy for 300 top employees. mostly managers and supervisors not represented by a union. >> sad thing, it's probably only the beginning of a long series of other wehat we are going to need to do. >> reporter: until now managers could sell back up to one-third of their unused vacation per year. a district attorney told abc7 his deputy d.a.'s will be seriously impacted. >> now they will be forced to take that vacation time they'll have to replace them with one or one and a half more attorneys which is going to cost me additional money. >> they say the move is expected to save the county $1 million a year. despite short term savings, in the long term it will hope them rein in vacation payouts.

>> wasting we're taking immediate action but it will have additional savings because of the pension cost savings. >> reporter: which is why they have 2000 members in contra costa county. >> there is a sense of equity before the board. folks have had these from our rank and file haven't had so that isn't equitable. >> it applies for only non-union managers. supervisors hope to negotiate with individual uins to eliminate vacation buy backs country wide. >> eric: a new study by cal watch finds that eighth graders are not prepared in algebra. lyanne melendez takes you to one school where they are ready. >> reporter: by the time students reach eighth grade in california most of them should have the skills to tackle

algebra but one-third that took the test in eighth grade scored at the far below basic levels. this is according to a nonprofit that studies the issues. >> with this report is saying is really not that kids shouldn't be getting algae bra in the eighth grade but they need more preparation. >> before taking it they should have mastered fractions and percentages. lewis freeberg is with california watch a nonprofit project of the center for investigative journalism. >> kids shouldn't be pushed into classes without more preparation or support while they are taking eighth grade math class. >> reporter: presidio middle school is part of a pilot program using ipads and algebra applications designed by a boston publishing company. three of classes study algebra

study using a textbook but a fourth class they use ipads. >> there are supplementary videos there is a calculator on it. >> reporter: at the end of the year they will see if the students with the ipads learned more algebra. >> let's look at things from a kids' perspective. the book heavy lots of pages intimidating. the ipad light. the screen easy to read. not intimidating. >> when they are handed an ipad which everybody has heard about they are only look at the page that dealing with. they don't see the thousand pages. so emotionally they believe i can learn this. >> reporter: only a few schools in fresno and long beach and riverside are taking part in the program. lyanne melendez "abc 7 news".

>> eric: have had your mail delivered to the wrong address or somebody else's mayor by mistake? it happens often in neighborhoods where streets have similar names. michael finney has one couple's frustrating story. >> reporter: julio is showing the puzzling problems along his house. it's the main reason he hasn't been getting his mail. >> everything says lake but i don't know why it's are very confusing. >> reporter: it's one corner in a neighborhood full of streets named lake something. there is lake haven lake wood lake muir lake bird. silver lake, meadow lake. twin lake. by the way there is no lake here. it seems right for lost visitors and misdirected mail.

their house sits on green lake drive right where it turns into lake clare drive. their mail has been going where they don't live. >> we're impacted with information. >> here is why. their official address says the house is on lake clare drive but it really shifts over here on green lake drive. a mail carrier looking for the house down here lake fair won't find. >> it neither of these address exist. so there is no such address on green lake or lake fair. when they go that way there is no house. >> instead their mail is returned to a mystery mail pile back at the post office. it may mean getting bills late missing documents and bad credit reports. >> you would get calls how come you didn't pay your bill.

>> they tried to call the post office and put this sign on the mailbox, and mail still went missing. after two years of this she had enough. >> i saw michael finney and said i'm going to give him a call. >> lake muir lake haven. >> we took the problem to the postal service all those streets were pretty confounding. >> there was some confusion as where the house is actually located. >> a postmaster paid a visit realized the address didn't match the house and contacted the city of sunnyvale. city looked into it, too. telling us, indeed, there was a clerical error way back in 1957 when the house was built. official records mistaken enly show the address on lake fair drive and city changed it to green lake and waived the $176

change fee. also mail carriers now carry a special note. this house is officially on green lake drive. >> in a month the problem was resolved after two years not getting resolved. it was good. we get our mail now. >> reporter: amazingly the postal service says with all the confusion, it's not received any more complaints about misdirected mail. by the way, no one could tell us why the lake names when there is no lake there. >> eric: when we continue a treatment that promises the results of liposuction without surgery. >> and how you

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>> eric: a new device is promising to deliver some of the results of liposuction without the surgery.

carolyn johnson has more. >> reporter: the pen marks on her stomach are framing the area she calls her trouble spots not enough trouble to consider liposuction but not as flat as she would like. >> i run i exercise i chase my kids around i eat right but i just of this peanut butter area. >> reporter: today she is having a new domestic procedure that promises to melt did cosmetic procedure and it uses a laser. >> it's ultrasonic externalized treatment that treats the underlying fat. >> the surgeon says the laser combines two signals that penetrate and combine under the skin to heat the fat cells without burning the skin. it doesn't remove fat as traditional liposuction it's good for small areas. >> the knee the thigh areas

lower abdomen. >> once the treatment starts doctor berkowitz uses a heat gauge to monitor the skin temperature. >> it's now. >> goal is to lick wi fight the fat cells so they can get them out. the technician uses this device he says it helps push the fat cells into the bloodstream. >> encouraging it towards themphatic drainage lymphatic drainage system. >> these before and after photographs were provided by the company. although results can vary she said he would be happy with a modest improvement. >> maybe my pinch test will be smaller. >> a team at stanford has created a electronic skin. researchers believe that it could provide the sense of touch

to the disabled. >> from a firm handshake to a gentle caress. it relies on the skin's ability to gauge pressure. now, they think they can turn rubber into an artificial skin. >> it would allow stretchable rubber to look like skin to be able to touch. >> the rubberized skin relies on electricity to make signals. they created new flexible electrodes sandwiched between specialize the rubber. it compresses the rubber and brings them closer together. >> we laminate them together. >> with just a touch of his finger a researcher triggers the sensors and with more pressure the electricity being passed through the artificial skin increases sending a

stronger signal. >> you can see to get the pressure off signal falls right back to the baseline. >> the electronic equivalent of someone pinching their arm and letting go. now imagine thousands integrated in skin like sheathes and placed over a prosthetic arm. they could get sophisticated signals directly to the bodies neurons. >> this potentially could be skin sensors with a different regions. you can put sensors and then these sensors could generate a map of the object it's touching. >> in one experiment captured on video by stanford. the system was able to detect the weight of a butterfly the sensitivity of this technology they hope some day will touch the lives of people. >> if we can do that then we're

truly getting close to human skin. >> eric: a team at university california has developed another version of the technology both projects were funded by defense department grants. >> the founder of youtube's new clothing line. plus.... >> you do the same thing every day and you never have no complaints. >> he has been on the state payroll longer than anyone else. what kept him on the job for more than six decades.

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hopefully people enjoy. >> he is best known as cofounder of youtube but in 2005 he quietly help a clothing and. leather store brands. he wasn't able to focus until he stepped down from youtube last october. >> early on you the question quiet because we wanted the brand to stay on its own. >> he studied graphic design in college and he teamed up with anthony that there was a growing demand to meet fashion demands for the silicon valley executive. they are looking for a middle ground. stow together they created the company. >> it's a combination of hawaii and alaska it's a combination of extremes yet american yet american and we want a mix somewhat professional look with a casual style.

>> we started as a brand and we think we have gotten a wallet for every kind of guy with the style they want. >> the pair operates three stores in san jose, palo alto and san francisco as well as the website halagska.com. >> it's not something we're dabbling in and we're trying to create and the internet thing. >> this year halaska introduced a line of shirts jackets and pants and hoodies. >> that is one of the way that halaska hopes to set itself apart by making its products in the united states. many items at their burlingame headquarters. their products are designed here and supplies are purchased locally. they even sell watches made in san francisco. they say it's all part of the plan to build on the spirit of

innovation that has come to define the bay area. >> it's one of the places you have a great opportunity to create a brand in the fashion world or internet industry. >> that is what is driving their growth. they are hoping to fashion ther fashion icons levis the gap and go viral across the nation with halaska and hoping to have other stores within two years. but they say they are going to do it on their own terms and at their own pace. >> i think too many times when you are in the industry you continue to do things again and again because that is the way it's always been done. for us we don't have that baggage. >> eric: u.s. labor department says the average length of time the u.s. workers stays on the job two to five years so when someone spends six decades in the same position it's

remarkable. wayne freedman has the story of one legendary state employee. >> reporter: at headquarters they have learned to take it for granted. you can see it in the clean counters gleaming glass spotless floors empty waste baskets. to find the man responsible listen to the jingling sound. >> i've been here 49 years. >> after all the complaints you've heard about pension greedy state employees here is the antithesis. >> he's been the longest tenured state employee. >> 62 years in all so long when he came to work for california some of these old pictures on the wall hadn't even been taken yet. >> i could have retired 20 years ago easy. >> you just don't come across that dedication to the state.

>> and at a level we have yet to reveal. >> i'm just here now. i'm on the retirement list. >> don't get the wrong idea. his official retirement date was december 31 2010 they threw a big party legendary by chp standards and high walked that door one small complication. the next workday riley came back. >> i don't know i woke up the next morning hey i was driving in the parking lot. >> maybe it had something with the lure of his routine but he couldn't endure more than a weekend about his h sweet home, filled with the tools of his trade. >> i still turn my keys in. i haven't cleaned my locker out. >> just because a man turns 88 he can still be productive and that would be riley jamison.

he would miss the people. >> he is a big flirt. >> i'm a bachelor. bachelor. [ laughter ] >> he does complain when i put too many paper clips on the floor. >> to make hit retirement and volunteer status truly official, they threw a major party with major brass. who knows his picture has been up for years. >> oh yeah. when you get you get on the wall here you are noticed around this place. >> he is noticed with how he has lived an object lesson that defines identity and function. wneits you do, it's how you do it. >> a good day's work you do the same thing every day and you never have no complaints. >> not a one on sunday they will havern to to learn to get along without him.

coming up where you can see incredible stone works and other art of ancient mexico.

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>> eric:rks or works or display at de young museum. no one knows where they came from or where they went. don an which he has offers husband some clues. >> stones weighing up to 24 tons carved to impressive figures and encloses sal heads used by sharpened rocks created more than 3000 years by the oldest civilization before the as a techs and span yards. >> he is fascinated by the sophistication and degrees of scientific knowledge. >> it's significant works of art. i think the olmert culture refined and elegance and simple

work. >> leaving behind massive pieces underscoring the power of the ruler. there are some delicate surroundings and jade work. >> it's unique in the culture because he is smiling. what is most impressive is the size of these works and minute detail. >> but the olmec are shrouded in mystery, no one knows anything about their life their language or where the olmec went. >> if you can have a culture with art with religion and everything can't we from what we know everything and then what happened to them? >> to disappear like this -- >> while this exhibit is being marketed to the hispanic community....

>> hispanic roots of mexican and the latino american people can see it. >> it's here through maydale. >>. >> eric: that is it for this edition. i'm eric thomas. thanks for joining us. we'll see you next time. >> the death toll continues to climb after the tornadoes in the south. a setback in the recovery of giants fan bryan stow and how the best