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 Fri, May 29 1992 Date: Fri, 29 May 92 05:20:41 EDT Message-ID: 05-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update May 29-31, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FEWER READ FOR FUN: Fewer students are reading for fun, according to a government study out Thursday. The National Assessment of Educational Progress says they rarely use libraries. Findings show a third of eighth and 12th graders and a fourth of fourth graders read five or fewer pages daily for school or homework in 1990. About 70% of eighth and 12th graders read for pleasure in 1990; about 80% did in 1988. HOME SHOPPERS COMMIT LESS: Home shoppers are refusing to reach as deeply into their pockets to cover housing costs as they did in the 1980s. Low interest rates and, in many areas, stable home prices, put them in command. A survey by Fulton Research shows that in 1987 the average single shopper was willing to pay 28% of his or her income for housing but last year wanted to commit only 24%. AUCTIONS NOW A STARTING POINT: A few California homebuilders are turning to auctions to get around slumping markets and the credit crunch. Rather than an auction being the dismal end of the foreclosure process, it's the way some builders are selling their houses from the start. NRC Auctions and JBS & Associates say they wouldn't be surprised if the idea takes off. The public is getting used to auctions, they say. NOT THE CEILING, IT'S THE AURA: Not much progress has been made in women moving up in business, some say. But cited most often as a complaint is not the glass ceiling as much as the male-dominated corporate culture. A survey by Business Week found that 70% of women execs complained of culture vs. 56% of the glass ceiling. And 52% said the rate of progress in hiring and promoting female executives is slowing. MORE EASTERN EUROPEANS COME: More refugees admitted to the United States are coming from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and fewer from Latin America, according to the Bureau for Refugee Programs. In 1992, 54.2% of refugees admitted was from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In 1988, 37.2%. In 1992, the percentage of refugees admitted from Latin America was 1.9%; in 1988, 3.3%. COLLEGE TEAMS A DRAW: Attendance at the College World Series is mushrooming, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In 1990, the average daily attendance was 15,381, up from 9,541 in 1980 and 7,4768 in 1960. In 1950, average daily attendance was just 1,781. LOOK OUT FOR TICKET TAXES: Airlines may be slashing summer fares like crazy, but ticket taxes are headed up starting Monday. Five airports begin charging departing passengers an extra $3 beginning Monday. Nine more airports begin collecting the new fees this summer and dozens of others are expected to quickly follow. Flyers will pay a maximum of $12 per round trip. The money will pay for airport projects. GLAD YOU'RE MY, UH, STEPFATHER: Father's Day cards are indicating some parenting trends, according to Hallmark. In addition to the funny or sentimental cards seen each year, this year's cards include ones with messages for divorced fathers who don't have custody of the children; stepfathers; and father figures. Gifts also indicate increased fatherly involvement in raising children. OFFBEAT CARTOONS ARE ON TARGET: Cartoons meant not just for the younger set are catching on in popularity. Cable channels have launched such programs as "Rug Rats" and "Doug." And Nickelodeon's "Ren & Stimpy" is coming out with 20 new shows due in August. The animated program was named by "Rolling Stone" magazine as the "Hot Cartoon" for 1992, just on the basis of six recycled episodes, says USA WEEKEND. NO MORE HAPPILY EVER AFTER: A new breed of children's books talks of life in the '90s, says USA WEEKEND. An example: "The House that Crack Built" takes the rhythms of "The House that Jack Built" and turns it into the food chain of drug use. "This is the Girl who's killing her brain, smoking the Crack that numbs the pain ..." Look for new books on homelessness, race relations and life as an African war orphan. MAKE THE NOSE BIGGER: The cookie-cutter approach to plastic surgery is dead, reports the June issue of allure magazine. Every era has its "look," from the sunken browlines of the '60s to the collagen-enhanced lips of Barbara Hershey in "Beaches" in the '80s. Today's doctor's blueprint: Cindy Crawford, says allure. Also big: "natural" noses, not the ubiquitous perky nose sought in the '70s. CARS FOR THE LADIES: Auto manufacturers are starting to cater toward women, according to an update in the June issue of Mademoiselle magazine. The magazine reports that carmakers are turning toward such niceties as fashion colors, lighted vanity-style mirrors and knobs that are easier on long fingernails. 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