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 Tue, Apr 7 1992 Date: Tue, 7 Apr 92 05:44:02 EDT Message-ID: 04-07 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update April 7, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DOCTORS WORK AS TEMPS: Increasing numbers of doctors are out. On assignment. Some 10,000 doctors, by one estimate, are locum tenens, Latin for someone holding a place. In modern parlance: They're temps. They fill in for doctors who are vacationing, ill, training, on military duty. They work in practices, clinics and hospitals all over the country. They represent all ages and specialties. (For more, see special Temps package below.) LOCAL NEWS CHANNELS TESTED: Local cable news channels are being tested this primary season. Tuesday's New York primary has Long Island's 24-hour News 12 on overdrive. "We've been running special stories every night on where the (presidential) candidates stand on every issue," says executive producer Drew Philips. Tuesday night, News 12 will air live reports from both Democrats' camps. CHANNELS AIM FOR LOCAL SPIN: Broadcasters could argue that the same coverage on local cable news channels can be found on local network-owned stations or the networks themselves. But "we're trying to put it in terms of Nassau and Suffolk County voters," says Drew Philips of Long Island's News 12. New England News Channel launched March 2. Eight days later, it was Super Tuesday. FALL SHOWS STEP BACKWARD: U.S. fashion designers are taking the world back to 1942 with the fall style shows. Monday, Bill Blass, Norma Kamali, Marc Jacobs and Betsey Johnson offered flowered floral frocks, fitted mid-calf skirts and pinstripe pantsuits. All were accessorized with long gloves and floppy berets. Menswear this season is no kin to the boxy Annie Hall look: It's long, lean and wilder than ever. POORBOYS COME BACK: The poorboy sweater is making a comeback, reports the April issue of Vogue. It was popularized by Audrey Hepburn in the 1957 film "Funny Face" and was named for turn-of-the-century newsboys who wore shrunken sweaters. To recreate the gamine look of Hepburn, try Necessary Objects' striped cotton mock turtleneck, about $32, or 525 Made in America's cotton scoop neck, about $40. MEN'S TANKS ARE OUTERWEAR: Slips, bras and bustiers aren't the only lingerie elements coming to life, says Vogue. Nine years ago, Calvin Klein redesigned the men's tank top for the female form. Now designers are moving it out into the open. Tanks are seen with everything from men's hats to tulle skirts. Model Cindy Crawford wears one in a Pepsi commercial. Variations from men's tanks are slight. CHEVY CHASE TRIES A SHOW: There's a new celebrity joining the ranks of funnymen hosts of late-night talk shows. Fox Monday announced that "Saturday Night Live" alumnus and film actor Chevy Chase will return to TV in fall 1993 with a six-night-a-week show. Chase's entry will add a new twist to the hotly contested late-night arena. Veteran Johnny Carson retires May 22, handing off to Jay Leno. STORIES FILL THE SILENCE: Two women have come up with help for folks visiting elderly or ill relatives in nursing homes, at a time that increasing numbers of baby boomers are finding themselves caring for aging parents. Carolyn Banks and Janis Rizzo have co-edited "A Loving Voice: A Caregiver's Book of Read-Aloud Stories for the Elderly." It aims at helping fill the awkward silence of nursing-home visits. DIET CANDY BAR INTRODUCED: With all the attention to diet these days, the final frontier of indulgence has been reached. The M&M:Mars Co. this week introduces what it says is the first low-calorie version of a top-selling brand, Milky Way II. The diet version, which will sell for about 65 cents (10 cents more than the regular), has 190 calories and 8 grams of fat vs. the original's 280 calories and 11 grams. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON TEMPS: MOST WORK THROUGH FIRMS: Doctors working as temps represent all ages and specialties. Some do it as a favor for friends. Some contract on their own, following American Medical Association guidelines. But most work for one of the 30 firms that place temporaries. Once doctors had friends cover when they had to be away. Now, "others may acquire his patients," says Wanda Dearth of Staff Care. FIRMS COVER DETAILS: The firms act as brokers. They pay doctors up to $750 a day, arrange licensing, insurance, travel and housing and collect a fee from clients. Dearth says the doctors fall into three main categories: Young residents checking possible practice sites; mid-career doctors seeking change; and semi-retired doctors with wanderlust. HALF OF DOCTORS DISSATISFIED: Working in a temporary situation should appeal to young doctors, says Dr. Therus Kolff, founder of Comp-Health, Salt Lake City, largest of the medical temp firms. "Fifty percent of physicians are dissatisfied after they settle down," he says. One reason may be that doctors are "careful about picking a school and residency, then they jump into practice before they know what they want." (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Beth Mann. (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