Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends,americast.usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Thu, Sep 10 1992 Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 05:44:18 EDT Message-ID: 09-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Sept. 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network RISE IN CARJACKINGS REPORTED: Police from Los Angeles to New York report an alarming rise in carjackings - and not just on mean city streets. The sanctity of the road, what once was security behind the wheel are dissolving into fear of driving. Often it's a yuppie's worst nightmare brutally realized: Accosted at gunpoint - motor running - jerked from a BMW, Mercedes or Lexus they'll likely never see again. CARS STOLEN AT GUNPOINT: Though statistics aren't available, experts think carjackings are up. In the late 1980s, armed car thefts were rare, says University of Maryland criminologist Lawrence Sherman. But by 1990, Los Angeles police were reporting 8% of all autos were stolen at gunpoint. In LAPD's Van Nuys division alone, there have been 25 carjackings since June 1. Victims are often EDUCATION REFORM TAKING HOLD: Kids at Bruns Avenue Elementary School are in the vanguard of an education reform effort in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (N.C.) that, education experts say, is one of the more ambitious public school battle plans in the country. The 77,000-student district says it is trying to create "world-class" schools with academic requirements that are as tough as any in the USA. (For more, see special Education package below.) BRITISH GROUPS INVADE RADIO: Some British bands are finding a welcome mat at the USA's radio stations and record stores. One British band, The Levellers, has an album out called "Levelling the Land." It features songs using regional incidents to deal with universal issues. British:Irish quartet My Bloody Valentine is earning raves with its fuzz-rock sound; and Therapy? is giving fans a big dose of industrial metal. SENIORS' EYE CHECK HELPS DRIVING: The rate of traffic deaths among older drivers is lower in states that require vision tests before renewing driver's licenses. Such testing "appears warranted, at least for drivers 65 ... or older," three physicians concluded in a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control. SPORTS DRINKS DON'T HELP: The sports drinks and nutritional supplements gaining popularity that promise athletes a "winning edge" are nothing more than snake oil, says Michael Liang, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. No food or drink can transform an average athlete into a world-class champion, says Liang. TRAVELING IS `ON THE UP AND UP': Twenty-four percent, or 36.4 million, of U.S. adult travelers plan to travel more during the fall of 1992 than they did during the fall of 1991, the Travel Industry Association's Travelometer reported Wednesday. The survey found that the tendency to increase travel this fall is clearly related to a more optimistic view of economic conditions for the fall. ANOTHER CREDIT CARD ENTERS RACE: Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites announced Wednesday it has joined with General Motors to offer a new credit card that features special incentives for travelers. Holders of the GM Card who charge their stay at any of Marriott's hotels, resorts and suites will automatically double the Marriott dollars credited to their GM rebate account. BAR CODES MAY BE HISTORY: Bar codes, one of the most visible signs of the computer age, may disappear from view. A Japanese company, Hitachi Maxwell, says it has developed bar codes that are invisible - or just slightly visible, if users prefer. "We can make bar codes so they don't intrude on the packaging of products like cosmetics, where they can detract from the design," says Hitachi Maxwell's Hideyuki Noda. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON EDUCATION: GOAL IS `WORLD-CLASS' PROGRAM: If reforms fall into place as planned, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) school system's "world-class" program will eliminate separation of students by traditional grades and move kids through once they demonstrate they have learned what they were taught. Some schools will try a pilot curriculum inspired by former Education Secretary William Bennett carrying the name of the Modern Red School House. READING CLASSICS STRESSED: There's a heavy dose of the classics: Suggested reading in grades four through six includes not only the likes of Rud-yard Kipling and Edgar Allan Poe but also entries like "The People Could Fly: American Black Folk Tales" by Virginia Hamilton. And vocational education students, along with everyone else, will be required to take algebra and geometry. SCHOOL REFORM IS NOT NEW: The public has seen other education reforms roll out before, especially in the 1980s. Kentucky changed its schools statewide so that kids in kindergarten through third grade stay together because their progress is so varied at this age. Chicago turned over control of its schools to school councils made up largely of parents, part of the trend toward site-based management. IMPACT REMAINS TO BE SEEN: The jury is still out on the impact of such reforms. Meanwhile, news stories keep telling the public that U.S. kids are stuck near the bottom in international test comparisons. "We were not concentrating on the No. 1 thing, the education of all children," says A.E. "Buddy" Wood Jr., co-president of Charlotte's PTA. "We were spending too much time on stupid stuff." (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