>> welcome to assignment 7. today on our program. the aging military weaponry that stands over san francisco bay. now, the new campaign to protect and preserve it. local technology that could help prevent the spread of disease. how apple's ipad is helping bay area children. >> let's begin with constitutionality of san francisco's election system. it is debated before the 9th circuit court of appeals and the same system that helped jean quan as the winner of oakland's mayoral race. >> two of three judges on the circuit of court of appeals from san francisco.

you are familiar with the disputing voting system. since 2004 the right choice system has allowed san francisco voters to pick their top three choices in a race. if no candidate collects first place ballots the person that comes in last is eliminated and they will have votes transferred to the second choice or third until someone wins. poll recent poll found voter confusion. the architect of the system other surveys that voters understand. >> that doesn't mean necessarily they can sit down and count the ballots but they understand what they have to do as voters. that is to rank, one, two, three and they feel comfortable doing that. >> von trying to undue right choice. he ran an unsuccessful candidate for supervisor in 2006. >> i don't believe it's a constitutional system because voters don't have a way to know what the final three candidates

are. >> they are complaining that not all the votes go into winning columns. >> those monitoring the legal challenge are aware san francisco is gearing up for the first competitive mayor's race to use it. councilwoman jean quan had fewer first place votes than don perata that pulled up a stung victory. political science professor says it changes the dynamics. >> it changes the calculation of candidates what happens and makes things more complicated important voters. >> the city has asked appeals court panel for a decision by july 1st, well ahead of the november election. carolyn tyler, "abc 7 news." >> a major construction project is under way on the peninsula that will ensure millions of bay area residents will have water

after the next big quake. david louie reports. first wates cal springs reservoir from the sierra 77 years ago but the age and fact that vital facilities sit above or near the san andreus fault is always a worry the. >> the goal within 24 hours within a major earthquake we will have water fliog. >> a new pipeline going up to san francisco will replace one built in the 1930s. there will be improvements to a water treatment plant and to the transmission system. >> without these projects a major earthquake could put large portions of the area out of the water for 30 to 60 days. our communities won't survive for 30 to 60 days. >> the crystal from springs dam is safe according to engineer but it, too, will have work done

to the spillway. >> we need hydraulic improvements to allow safely contain a spill in the spillway. >> two-thirds of customers live outside san francisco so they will pay two-thirds of construction costs. a typical peninsula residents pays $54 monthly for water. by 2015, projected water bills will be $91 a month with 52s covering the newer construction. >> the scope of the project is amazing. i'm standing on a structure that covers the intake pipe that gets the water from the reservoir and takes it to the water treatment plant. as part of the construction project this will be submerged underwater. >> they will take four years to complete. for more than half a century protecting the golden gate

massive guns protected the bay. dan ashley reports. >> it may be hard to imagine the entrance to san francisco bay was one of most heavily fortified straits in the country. huge guns dotted the golden gate and prepared to shoot any hostile vessel that attempted to make night bait waters. soldiers are gone but certainly not their history. >> what you are looking at at central part of the system. >> matthew wants to remember these all batteries. he has written a field guide highlighting the harbor defenses. it stretches from point reyes to half moon bay in the south. >> i think what spurs people is that these were built prior to 1900. you are looking at structures

pre-1906 that are still standing. >> most of the sites were used through world war ii and turned over to the national park service in the 1970s. >> there was one fortification before theanish got here, not because a war was going on. we had to fight back but the anticipation some day that war might come. >> a retired ranger leads tours through one of the largest batterys on the first sunday of each month. >> it was a coast artillery battery. it mounted two battleship sized guns that could fire shells weighing over a ton 25 miles out to sea. >> many of batteries are accessible to hikers but sealed off from visitors inside. he gave us a tour in the marin headlands. >> thickest area is 25 feet to 30 feet of earth above us. concrete averages about four

feet, six feet thick. >> despite all the effort to build the massive batteries the guns were only fired in practice maneuvers. up to hundred soldiers would call this place home. >> when it closed, battery was used as a training ground. since 2005 golden gate parks and many volunteer groups have been working hard to preserve it. >> it was in bad shape when volunteers first started working on its restoration. >> the floor was covered with garbage and debris, groofz every vertical. >> after two and a half years and $150,000, battery townsley opened to the public. park service is working on restoring other battery sites. >> it's part of our national

heritage. >> still ahead, a centennial celebration in daly city. woman has a tale of the san francisco suburb, plus.... >> the mosquito, recognize it and shoot it down. >> a mosquito killer, how technology used in video games can help the spread of disease around the world.

daly city celebrated its centennial in march. it even has history museum. the woman lynde it has collected daly city history all her life. >> if think putting a museum together is easy.... >> this is oldest picture in the collection. >> it takes organization, time and perspective. in daly city you will find all those qualities in bunny. >> my mother was a school

teacher and she believed in collecting items. >> she passed that value along apparently. she has lived here all 85 years of her life. as the city celebrates the centennial she is a good person to have around. >> the fact we are here. >> people have lived here since they settled 1852 and started selling land. john daly that ran a diary that remains the top of the hill. this would become mission street. >> he died in 1923. i asked if i knew him personally >> even how the museum came to pass was an exhibit. this used to be the daly city public library. all the stuff in here, most of it in bunny's garage. >> it's really hard, it isn't

famous for anything. >> not exactly. they thought california's last duel in what would become daly city. they disagreed on what california was back in the civil war. >> mr. terry told mr. broderick. >> san franciscans would visit daly city for prize fights because gambling remained legal san mateo county, county setting and rural tradition. who can forget the mystery blimp of world war ii. >> here is part of gondola and gas bag as it crashed on bellevue avenue. just an open door. bunny was in the crowd that day. she thinks the first man fell overboard while looking at an oil slick. >> the one that was pilot reached out and grabbed him and they both fell off she is a mine

of information. and legacy of all this stuff. >> this is a lot better than a garage. >> from the daly city history miami, wayne freedman, "abc 7 news." a bay area company is supplying technology that could help millions of peoplean enegat an enemy that the attacks from e air and spreads disease. carolyn johnson has more. >> in just a fraction of a second, this mosquito will be blasted out of the sky. even in this super slow motion video provided by the developer the speed of the kill is something out of a video game. technically speaking that is not far off the mark. stan is senior vice president of the company that power the intense 3-d animation in today's video games. but those chips known as gpus do

more. >> it's evolved into gpu that uses in a variety of applications that you have to simulate information. >> everything from 3-d imaging from hospitals to facial recognition for homeland security. now a research company found in part by bill gates also turned to the gpu to help power a laser based system to kill mosquito.oa mosquito and female mosquito and shoot it down. the recognition of trying to find it is done on a gpu. a laser fence that could protect villages from mosquitoes. if it seems like overkill, consider the real enemy is malaria. so richard is the director of global health sciences and involved in the worldwide war on malaria. he doesn't have direct knowledge

of the laser device, he knows malaria is taking a staggering toll. >> it kills 1 million people every year and most are children and most live in africa. >> it has helped control malaria but prevalent in at least 99 countries. >> even they admit laser system wouldn't be a complete solution they are making it cheaper and easier to klio in the third world, hoping to partner with a company to mass produce the technology worldwide. taking the make believe violence of the gaming world to a real world enemy. 7 on your side is next. >> one of yosemite's most popular one is

yosemite national park is one of california's most popular destinations but this year it make nearly impossible to make the hike up because of scalpers. >> the family and friends remember fondly their midnight hike at half dome two years ago. >> we got up at 5:30 in the morning in time to see the sunrising. >> he was only 15 at the time. his dad grinning behind him after they climbed 5,000 feet. >> it's an experience that everybody should at least do once. >> i would like do it again. it's upsetting that we don't get to. >> the group will not climb in june as planned. park service now requires permits to climb the cables to

the summit with a limit of 400 per day. in order to reduce dangerous crowding on the cables on the final stretch. this video by the national park service shows hikers climbing those cables to the summit. 1.50 for a day hike. and hottest tickets are being snapped up within minutes when they go on sale. many park visitors they are complaining they are being shut out. >> we synchronized our watches and try to get our group up to the top. >> permits go on sale precisely 7 a.m. on the first day of each month. they are sold by phone and online to a park through a park service website. but he and his friends couldn't get out fast enough. they were sold out in 12 minutes. >> it's hard to believe 400 tickets could be gone in five to

ten minutes for one day, let alone for 30 days. >> to be gone so fast, it seems like how could it happen. >> the park service directed me to call the attorney general's office. i called 7 on your side. >> what we found they have created a black market for the popular yosemite hike. >> they are buying the half dome permits and selling them on the internet on craigslist for captor but tenant prices. doctor exorbitant prices. >> they scoop up large numbers of permits before they can type their information online and then selling them at hugely inflated prices. we half found half dome permitsn craigslist for as much as $40. craigslist is filled with pleas from hikers wanting the permits. >> it's so magical and such a

big part fabric of american society using our national parks and specifically dwreoy make money. >> infuriate fog this group of would be climbers, too. >> first time climbing. >> they complained they would have to pay a tour company hundreds of dollars to take them to the top. the tour company can't get permits either. >> ticket scalpers are getting hold of these tickets and what we've confirmed from our clients who book in 2010. we can't get the permits. we don't get anything. >> john of wide explorer tours he is taking half as many groups up the dome and fewer hikers in each group. will the iconic half dome sit out of reach, even for those that can manage the strenuous

claim. park service is hoping to stop the illicit sales. >> it occurs around the country but here it shouldn't happen. >> this is crown jeel of the national park. >> scalpers are also reselling campsite reservations and at inflated prices. so is all of this legal? the park service says it's not transfer and and they are investigating whether scalpers can be prosecuted. marin county is issuing apple ipads for thousands of students. richard hart reports on new digital coach for speech. >> for most of us, not so much but jennifer lambert and her friend, the two teenagers carry on with touch screen tags.

>> what is this thing? >> is it easy to use? >> yes. >> this has sparked a revolution this speech therapy. >> i think the ipad is just beginning to tap into the special zbleedz a specialist with technology resource center of marin county which is under taking to supply ipads for 4,000 students in special education. something unthinkable with its predecessorer. devices that cost up to $7,000. ipad costs one-tenth as much. never mind that it is infinitely more flexible. >> if you go on the website, fifth item down is special education links. it shows you what special ed has now with this movement. >> hello, what will you doing? do you want to come over? >> you wanted to see a movie? >> you asked her do you want to

go hang out at the mall. >> any word can be typed but phrases can be used for easy recall. what about "the king's speech". >> i'm waiting for that. i haven't seen the app but the technology is there. i'm sure it's second away from coming. >> up next, picasso of fashion. a bay area's tributefñ/ñ/ñ/ñ/ñ/x

[ mom ] can a little bowl of cereal change your life? i think it can. one of the challenges for kayla being gluten-free is actually finding choices the whole family will love. five flavors of chex are gluten-free, including the honey nut flavor, and that's amazing to a mom like me. as a parent you dot want to have to tell your kids "no" all the time. it's nice for me to be able to say "yes" to something th they want to eat. [ male announcer ] chex cereal. five flavors. gluten free. welcome back. he was one of most influential clothing designers. he is being shown at de young museum. don sanchez gives us a look. >> he was legend are designer. he was perhaps the most influential designer of 20th century. it shows how he was inspired by the native land.

drama of the building and passion of the dance and glory of the church. this exhibit has been brought together from collections around the world. it's meant to show his importance of his design. >> everybody was influenced by the designers and models. >> he was drawn to his work even before heas a teenager. >> is he was ahead of anybody else. >> he was often called the picasso of fashion. >> there is experimentation of work but it's done with deep respect. >> his name not by a household word, he never went into her khan dies go but he was considered the pinnacle of designer. >> this show and others at museum is really about fashion as art. not how wealthy people dress. >> they are about fashion and the evolution of fashion.

>> high standards, works of beauty and art tri-and now we can see close up how a legacy has lasted. it's here through the 4th of july. that is all for this edition of assignment 7. i'm kristen sze. thank you so much for joining us. we'll see you back here next time.