>> terry: hi, welcome to assignment 7. today our program. money isn't everything to keeping workers happy. michael finney shows us what exactly the best jobs offer to hang on to employees. >> plus, a new procedure changing the lives of patients that suffer from a debilitating deformity. and .... >> and come together for affordable solutions. >> a groundbreaking by mention stanford grads that can help babies around the world. >> we start with the can you say cosco busan accident and

negative aspects on fish the herring. it could be a warning for the shipping industry. >> it was november 2007 when the container ship cosco busan struck the base of one of towers of bay bridge. more than 50,000 gallons of oils leaked into the bay. they knew it would have a huge impact on marine life. but new research that the pacific herring population it was a disaster. >> we anticipated there would be subtle effects but what was really shocking these embryos were furnishing into liquid. >> jerry is director of the u.c. davis bodega marine laboratory. he co-authored the study. he says they found bunker oil from the damaged ship and sunlight proved to be a lethal combination for hundreds of thousands of fish embryos in

shallow water. >> this can be extremely photo toxic and new thing that people need tock aware of that it may kaul be lethal in certain organisms. >> they question whether her pollutants in the bay are responsible but studies conducted for the next two spawning cycles found what they found the chemical fingerprint of bunker oil. they are working with agencies to prioritize projects to restore the bay. they say we welcome the new information that will better help us protect the bay from oil spills. cosco busan had a dramatic impact both ecologically and economically. >> herling is one of the last fisheries inside san bay. >> kristen: when it comes to it takes more than a steady paycheck to keep workers

happy. a recent study found there are certain keys to attract employees. michael finney takes us inside a few bay area companies that have it down. >> at zynga, every day is bring your dog to workday. what the have is unusual company perks. san francisco company zynga is building a do the play land for employees and bet possesses are included. that is attractive to the director of the marketing. >> you can enjoy your day with your favorite pet. >> google may have been the first to offer free meals. they are firing all day, blue

bottle coffee and free breakfast lunch and dinner make it to employees who never have to leave the building. >> my absolutely favorite pesh perk is friday brunch followed closely by tuesday. >> they oversee more than 2,000 meals a day and believes food is intricate to the success of the company. >> having all on one site and being together all one time definitely helps. >> the tech recruit firm hired house cleaners for his 31 employees. it's a way to alleviate some of their stress the home so they can be more productive at work. >> this is one of the perks that make them feel good. >> one of the most popular cliff bar is half of an hour of paid time to work out. additionally employees get two and a half hours a week of free

personal training. they have been with the company for more than five years and helped the owners develop some of the benefits. >> our founders really wanted to create a company where they want to work, a place that supports who they are and their values. >> environmental issues are yees $6500 toward theany so they purchase of a fuel efficient car and thousand dollars to upgrade their home. >> there are haircuts, massage and day care and dry-cleaning. >> some of the little things i think just make your day easier and make it especially for a working mom to get flew. >> kristen: the heart of innovation country, kids are getting a chance to help shape high-tech games and toys before they are unveiled.

jonathan bloom visited a lab in san francisco at the children's creativity museum. >> children love computers and they love experimenting. >> so when jodie brought three kids here it was like christmas all over again. >> game developers and toy makers lining up to see what kids think of their latest creation. >> you see the dworms are doing tests with niece and nephew with the kids counsel the street. they are getting hundred kids. >> that is what they get coming here innovation lab at creativity museum. it's only been around two and a half months but in that time it's become the place for educational game makers to try out their ideas. >> kids are honest so if something is boring they push it aside. >> or start playing it in all

new way. he never imagined the puzzle game would be multiple players. >> when you get two or three kids playing it, each one will take a cube and start playing. >> it's not hard to get them experimenting, curiosity is why they came to the museum. >> it's very fun and trying new things. >> kids are coming here to play stuff and explore creativity and gives me an opportunity to talk to the parents. >> parents say they areo see what goes into making the games. >> they should be part of the process. >> kristen: still ahead, a south bay school district gets creative in the tough economy. how it's managing to build four new sports fields without spending a dime of taxpayer

money. and... well tell you what it takes to keep the wind turbines turning in the east bay hills. -dad, why e you getting that? -that's my cereal.

is there a prize in there? oh, there's prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are the great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh.

a perhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ >> kristen: welcome back a school district in san jose is realizing what some may call an impossible dream. they are hoping to build four state of the art sports facilities without frp dollars. lyanne melendez explains how. >> reporter: in these hard times most school districts wouldn't think building a sports field, let alone four. >> the resources that school districts have available are not focused this in these players. >> alum rock school district is working with civic sponsor to help raise $18 million to build the next four middle school campuses.

the school districts will contribute nothing but civic sponsor for profit company will reach out to local corporations and individuals to invest in these projects. and they'll get a tax credit. >> you know when you walk by the park, that is something you bought for your neighborhood. we want to continue with that. we look at parklets or playgrounds. >> civic sponsor uses a group buying platform. for example, $100 buys six and a half square feet of a sports project. they seek out corporations with pet initiatives. >> we look at athletic facilities for schools, we look at childhood obesity that can affect academic performance. so we are involved with companies who involved in healthcare and sports. >> construction is going on at a fifth campus but the funding is

coming from the bond money and the city of san jose, again, taxpayer dollars. >> that is what the school district wants to avoid. future projects will be funded using this new plat 'form. >> we want to invest in them. we're looking at every opportunity to ensure it doesn't matter you live on the east side. you are goinghereceive the type of amenities that you would get. >> reporter: lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news". >> kristen: people in the wind energy business hope to hire half a million people in the next ten years for all kinds of jobs. as wayne freedman reports, even mountain climbers should apply. >> reporter: >> reporter: in the rustic sacramento river near bird's landing, a quiet revolution has been building on the horizon. we have entered a realm of mechanical behemoths, they power distant neighborhoods. for them they heat heat their

homes. >> why do they call it a cows tail? >> you call it all kinds of different things. >> how about mountain climbing, because in a high-tech industrial twist that is what they are about to do the gear goes by hoists and they buyer foot, 267 feet straight to the top. it's one way up and wait until you see them come down. >> they still have problems, anything from a lightning strike somebody has to go up there and fix them. it is new kind of career with a twist and more than a few knots and please don't tangle those ropes because at this height this could cause a bit too much togetherness even for a like rose or theology student like

taylor. >> it's philosophical down there. you can down a blade? >> during those occasional moments when you look around and think, why in the world am i doing this job? >> reporter: they working for a company called rope partner based in santa cruz. rose got her mountain skills in kalib and now they are called wind techs. >> is this a growth industry? >> definitely, look around. >> that is chris, another climber who happened to start this company back in 1999. >> reporter: did you know what you were getting in? >> i did. i always knew this was going to be a new and big energy source and i could employ a lot of people to do this work. >> reporter: from the ground it's like watching bugs, they make pretty good money. rose and kaleb documented the damage, they took photos and slowly made their way down, just another day at the office. >> and then.... >> get that stuff off of me.

>> reporter: here is another take on situations wanted, fearless, like a human fly, mountaineers preferred. wayne freedman, "abc 7 news". >> kristen: up next, $200 instant warmer that will save thousands of dollars and thousands of lives. >> a local surgeon's technique to straighten out a debilitating spinal deformity. f f [ femal] what would you call an ordinary breakfast pastry

that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun. mom, we're dying. no you're not, you're just hungry. make some totino's pizza rolls. we don't have any! front... left, totino's. [ male announcer ] well done mom! less drama, more fun! totino's pizza rolls. ♪ we were skipping stones ♪ and letting go ♪ over the river and down the road ♪ [ female announcer ] at nature valley, we know nature comes together in amazing ways. that's why we bring together natural ingredients,

like dark chocolate with toasted oats, or sweet golden honey. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪ ♪ i was thinking that i hope this never ends ♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious. how to solve a brother-sister standoff. ♪ pillsbury chocolate chipookies, warm out of the oven. another sweet idea for bringing families together from pillsbury. here's a better idea... pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits. in just 15 minutes, the light delicate layers add a layer of warmth to your next dinner.

pillsbury grands! dinner ideas made easy. >> kristen: some former stanford students create go kraid new product to save the lives of newborns. it's cheap and effective if they can raise money to get it into clinics. >> flee years ago at stanford something amazing happened. it was graduate class that mixed business and engineering students. jane was one of them. >> we come together to develop affordable solutions. >> reporter: they were challenged to keep newborns warm. every year around the world, an estimated 20 million babies are born premature or weighing legs than they should. >> one of the biggest problems

they face, is staying warm because they don't have enough body fat. many of them die or have severe long-term health problems. >> reporter: they were looking for an alternative to incubators and not a good option for many parts of the developing world. >> something that was not using electricity and things that mothers and midwives could use in a home setting and something that is portable. >> reporter: after intense research they developed a product that costs just $200. >> take a little sleeping bag for an infant. >> it's called the embrace infant warmer. the key is wax like substance that is heated in a special warmer. >> it will keep the baby warm for four to six hours. the team formed a nonprofit organization and kept working on the product after graduation.

they won design awards and caused a sensation when it was featured on an abc news special. >> getting the embrace product into widespread use in developing countries proved to be a long process. first they got them to be user friendly in a wide variety of situations. grants and private donations help to pay for product development. that is just the beginning. >> we're trying to set up a pool of funding that will go directly the towards purchasing these warmers and give them to needy clinics. >> raising the money will take time. the warmer has been used successfully on 300 babies. but millions die each year because they can't keep warm. they are hoping that donors will come forward soon. >> we are excited to get the product out in to those that

need it. >> kristen: the embrace nonprofit have a list of ways you can help. including donations. we have a link at t of tv. click see it on tv. >> a new procedure is changing lives from people that suffer a spinal deformity. carolyn johnson has look how it works. >> i was dancing and thought i would be in the midst of it. >> her instructor noticed something not only her ability to dance but quality of life, as well. >> she noticed that i was tilted a little bit. she asked me if i had scoliosis. >> you can see how much of a curve she has. >> reporter: scoliosis is a did he for the of the spine that can leave younger patients with hunch of the back, it also twists it. robert specializes in treating.

>> it when a patient bends forward, one side of the spine is higher than the other and ribs are thrown out on one side. so think of hunchback of notre dame, that is what created the hunchback. >> to straighten the back, they used a technique they helped pioneer, that puts screws in a new way. >> you put left hand rod and bring the spine to make a correction and second rod and stabilizes it and strengthens it and second rod doesn't add anything to the correction. >> new system hardware on both sides of the spine is interconnected. during an operation they straighten the spine in sections angering it to the operating table. >> when it's perfect as we can get it then we tighten it all down. in effect we are correcting the

deformity by using both sides of the spine rather than only half. >> reporter: vertebrae have been fused to keep it solid. in sara's case, they got the bending and twisting of her spine and they corrected it and she is hoping to gain mobility to do the things she loved. >> i would love to get back to the dance floor and perform again. >> kristen: and procedure involves modified hardware and there is typically no additional cost. >> done sanchez takes to some of places where rock and roll royalty was made and you'll see nothing like it today. so, this is delicious okay... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic.

are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love yourereal there-- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way. lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one.

those five food groups sound a whole lot better when you put them in a taco shell instead of a pyramid. old el paso. when you gotta have mexican. fantastic! pro-gresso ] they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. >> kristen: rolling stone is magazine that changed the music industry it was launched in san francisco and the first photographer released some of

his memorable photos. >> rolling stone a big book loaded with pictures of the era. >> you don't know the role it's going to play in history. >> reporter: ztd 1960s he asked him to be his first photographer. nobody had heard of the magazine. >> i was working for nothing. >> reporter: he was uncertain there would be a second issue. >> this is the famous landmark. it's where the grateful dead used to live. it's where he showed up for his first assignment 4 rolling stone. the rest as we say is history. you see that bowl, it's filled with whipped cream. they threatened to sloe flow it on any reporter that asked embarrassing questions. >> they were all wired from the press conference. i couldn't get them to relax and

i said i need a group shop. i said i'm baron from rolling stone. they said what what is that. i had no credibility. >> reporter: rolling stone was the chronicle of a music culture. tourists come to the house to check it out. this couple very s from barcelona. >> they can find a treasure here. >> i saw the music. if i stopped to listen to the music i would get so engrossed with it i wouldn't be able to take the picture. >> it's the same but different. there is an energy that was similar to the energy but not as naive as it was then. >> reporter: people looking around, couple of spain found it and they bought the book. what make these photos is interest mass, before there was control over image showing who

they are. >> in those days you could get so close to the performers and the stage. >> it's a legacy of those close-up personal moments on the pages of his book. in san francisco, don sanchez, "abc 7 news". >> kristen: if you want more information go to our website at abc7news.com and look under the news links on the left side for assignment 7. that is all for this edition of assignment 7. hope you enjoyed the program. i'm kristen sze. thank you for joining us. we'll see you next time.