Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Mon, Aug 10 1992 Date: Mon, 10 Aug 92 04:17:59 EDT Message-ID: 08-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Aug. 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network VINTAGE ADDS TO STAR'S APPEAL: Kids from all over are writing 16-year-old Mayim Bialik of NBC's "Blossom" to find out where she gets her clothes. Bialik says she has professional help from costume designer Sherry Thompson. "We try to set, not follow, trends on the show," Thompson says. "So we do a lot of street watching and shopping in smaller boutiques and vintage shops on (Los Angeles') Melrose Avenue." IMMIGRANTS WASH OVER NEW YORK: The huge wave of immigrants that washed over New York City during the 1980s left a changed city in their wake. The 1990 census shows 28% of residents are foreign-born, the highest proportion in 50 years. Nearly half of the city's 2.1 million foreign-born residents arrived during the 1980s. (For more, see special New York package below.) WAVE OF REPELLANTS HIT MARKET: Entomologist Richard J. Pollack of the Harvard School of Public Health saysa repellant that contains DEET (N,N-Diethyl-m-toulamide) is still a persons best bet if they are going outside where biting flies or ticks are known to carry diseases. "But a new wave of manufacturers and retailers would like you to believe if a little is good, more is better," he says. MANY PRODUCTS USELESS: Avon's Skin-So-Soft bath oil and citronella have a very slight amount of repellant activity, experts say. The bath oil is good for "a couple of minutes." Citronella is effective for about "20-25 minutes." Devices that use ultra-sonic tones to ward off fleas and other insects are "absolute nonsense," says entomologist Richard J. Pollack. DOGS, CATS HAVE 900 NUMBER: The latest entry in the 900 numbers field is a hot line by the American Humane Association to help pet owners find lost pets. The AHA says only 16% of lost dogs and two percent of lost cats ever find their way back home. To register a lost pet, call 900-535-1515. Cost: $1.95 a minute. It takes about four minutes to enter a description, address and phone number with a touch-tone phone. BIG MARKETER CUTTING BACK: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has contacted media outlets to cancel the bulk of its fourth-quarter ad commitments, Advertising Age says. It is the latest bad news media companies have received from the tobacco marketer. Late last year, RJR said it would cut its 1992 ad budget and abandon long-term media commitments. SICKNESS AFFLICTS WAR VETS: A strange ailment is hitting Persian Gulf war veterans and they're blaming fumes from the Kuwaiti oil well fires. Last week, doctors found high levels of hydrocarbons in the blood of a Navy veteran in Texas. The VA says 17,000 gulf veterans have visited its hospitals since the war ended Feb. 28, 1991, but few have filed smoke-related claims. MORE WANT LESS WORK, MORE PLAY: A growing share of Americans have been saying their leisure time is more important than their work time, according to the Roper Organization. Today's adults are more likely to choose pleasure over mind-broadening and career-advancing activities, according to Roper. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON NEW YORK: YOUNG ADULTS MAKE UP BULK: Most of the recent immigrants to New York are young adults, a pattern that is consistent with national immigration trends. But while immigrants from Asia and Mexico dominate the national averages, four of New York's top five countries of origin are Caribbean. DOMINICANS OUTNUMBER OTHERS: The top supplier of New Yorkers is the Dominican Republic, which accounted for 115,800 legal immigrants to the city between 1982 and 1989. The second-biggest supplier to New York is Jamaica (72,300), followed by China (71,900), Guyana (53,600), and Haiti (40,800). Other countries with more than 10,000 immigrants to New York include Colombia, Korea, India, Ecuador and the Phillipines. WOMEN ESTABLISHING THEMSELVES: Most of the newest New Yorkers are women, and many of these women can provide for themselves. Only 98 men arrived in New York for every 100 women between 1982 and 1989, reversing a long-standing pattern of men establishing themselves before sending for their spouses. Moreover, 43% of the city's immigrant women reported an occupation, and many are skilled workers. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 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