Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Mon, Feb 17 1992 Date: Mon, 17 Feb 92 06:46:35 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Feb. 17, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network JOB SEARCHES ARE BRIEFER: People are finding jobs faster this year than last. Job searches are running between 7.2 and 7.9 months, down from 8.2 months last fall, says William Morin of outplacement firm Drake Beam Morin. He says he's noticing that fewer firms are planning layoffs in the next three to six months. Temporary-services firm Manpower Inc. reports hiring is up 8% over a year ago. HOLLYWOOD RETURNS TO CLASSICS: Hollywood is turning to literary classics. Martin Scorsese is making a film based on "The Age of Innocence," Edith Wharton's novel of manners. "Of Mice and Men" is getting a remake. And a dozen other literary classics are being readied for the screen. "There's a certain conservatism ... people are less interested in speculating on new stories," says Fred Fuchs of American Zoetrope. BANK ROBBERIES SET RECORDS: Last year was a record breaker for bank robberies across the USA, the FBI reports. Heists for 1991 are expected to surpass the 7,347 bank heists of 1990. Bank robberies in Atlanta nearly doubled to 207 from 109 in 1990; Los Angeles' 810 heists broke the 1983 record of 742. Blamed: drug abuse, poor economy and a new breed of banks that are easy marks. EXECUTIVE PAY A HOT ISSUE: Executive pay is likely to be the hot-button issue during the 1992 shareholder annual meeting season, which starts next month. A movement against the healthy compensation deals many corporate officers give themselves has been spurred by federal regulators. They're making it easier for shareholders to understand, review and speak up about those financial rewards. SHAREHOLDERS LIKELY TO TALK: Ralph Whitworth of the United Shareholders Association says companies are defensive about fat executive compensation deals "because they don't have an explanation." The association is a Washington group pressing for more accountability over how top management is paid. He predicted the issue of executive pay will "be raised at virtually every annual meeting." COMPUTER PICKS UP CONVERSATION: Dragon Systems Inc. of Massachusetts has unveiled a computer system that recognizes human conversation much more quickly than existing systems do and translates it to text on the screen. It could help those with carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries. Roger Stephens of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration says injury rates are rising. REGIONAL BROKERAGES TAKE OFF: Regional brokerages in smaller cities, towns and parishes across the USA are in boom times. Individual investors who make up the bulk of regional brokerages' customers have come back to the stock market in a big way. Low yields on certificates of deposit and soft real-estate prices have turned people away from other investments toward stocks, especially as the market has soared. HEALTH-CARE SPENDING SOARS: Health-care spending has increased dramatically in recent years, more than doubling in the past decade. According to the Health Care Financing Administration, health-care spending per capita, at $1,207, increased steadily, passing $2,000 by 1988. Last year the amount spent was $2,882. REALITY SHOWS CONTINUE: The reality-based programming beat goes on. In April, Fox premieres two new half-hour series. "Code Three" will follow paramedics in the cinema-verite style adopted by Fox's "Cops." "Sightings" will cover phenomena like life after death, psychic healing and the Loch Ness monster. FAMILY IS CHANGING: The modern family isn't dying, even though obituaries have been written for it by many social critics. It's in the midst of change, growing into forms that may work better for the 21st century, says Arlene Skolnick of the University of California, Berkeley. In her book, "Embattled Paradise: The American Family in an Age of Uncertainty," she says the good old days never really existed. SKATING COSTUMES QUIET DOWN: There's a reason the Olympic figure skaters' costumes aren't as sequined or feathered - or revealing - as in the past. The International Skating Union is enforcing a rule: No bare midriffs, chests, bums or bosoms. No "excessive decoration." Since the ermine-trimmed antics of skater Sonja Henie, costumes have gotten sexier. But many observers felt costumes in '88 went too far. BRIDES-TO-BE MEET FOREIGN MEN: Russia's economy is lagging, but the mail-order-bride trade is booming. Russian women, often encouraged by their mothers, are signing up with marriage agencies, taking out ads in papers and considering work as prostitutes to meet men from other countries. Planeloads of men, mostly from the USA and Europe, arrive in Moscow weekly in search of fairy-tale fantasies. Trends & Marketing Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002170000D0217 TRAV-R I Weak-dollar-a-travel-obstacle......... A D0217 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM