Background: Although rural adolescents use of alcohol is at some of the highest rates nationally, rural adolescent alcohol use has not been studied extensively. This study examines how community attitudes and behaviors are related to adolescent drinking in rural environments. Methods: Data were gathered in 22 rural communities in the Upper Midwest…

A study examining the links between cultural orientation and substance use surveyed 2,449 American Indians from 9 South Dakota reservations. After controlling for age, gender, education, and employment, biculturalism and low orientation to American Indian culture were associated with higher levels of alcohol abuse but were not correlated with drug…

This publication assesses the status of public elementary-secondary education in South Dakota and describes the state's progress toward meeting the six National Education Goals. A notable achievement is the Families First program, which is a broad-based initiative that empowers communities to identify and meet local human service needs and to…

This Kids Count report consists of four issues in a series of fact sheets that examine specific indicators of the well-being of children in South Dakota. Issue one focuses on teens and motor vehicle crashes. The fact sheet notes that teen death rates from car crashes have been higher than the national rate for 4 of the 5 years between 1992-1996.…

This proceedings contains papers from a symposium conducted to promote the professional sharing of scholarly accomplishments of Black Hills State University (South Dakota) faculty and students. The symposium also provided a forum for discussion of current issues related to the presentations. The papers, representing a variety of disciplines, are…