Despite their important role in the community, there have been a number of economic cycles and population shifts which have resulted in rural communities losing their weekly newspapers. An exploratory case study examined a small Iowa community of 450 persons which launched a volunteer newspaper nearly 10 years ago. The experiences of this…

After a brief examination of the concept of "quality of life," the paper explores research related to the concept in geography, the environmental education movement, and problems involved in implementing relevant programs. It is suggested that "quality of life" is a shifting concept. At a basic level it is concerned with conditions that make…

Attitudes about "the right to die" were studied among high school and college students at three recent points in time. A general item about the right to decide between life and death, and one about that right for the terminally ill, were accepted by more than half the students. (Author)

In a lecture for the American Home Economics Association (AHEA) 1987 Annual Meeting, the author addresses futuristic life-styles and discusses how home economics must meet these changes. Specific visions cited are (1) better communications between practitioners and higher education and (2) evolution of the field into a professional discipline…

Criticizes institutions of higher learning for their excessive concern with techniques, systems, and structures as opposed to people. Maintains that leadership that believes in its people plus people who are committed to the institution equal students who are satisfied. The prescription for institutional wellness is centered around leadership.…

The early apprentice, his work regime, and his directive to travel are discussed. Apprentices had both a learning and a working relationship with their masters and they performed tasks that often brought them into contact with the adult world. The wanderjahre, the practice of requiring apprentices to wander, is described. (MLW)

Under the leadership of President Paul Stanton, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is demonstrating the power of higher education partnerships to improve the quality of life in local communities and to accelerate school improvement and student achievement. In this interview, Stanton describes how participation in the SREB Leadership Initiative…

Studied the effect of a laboratory-induced stress (failure feedback) on persons with differing levels of life stress. Proposed that differing levels of previous life stress cause people to make varying judgments about the degree of threat in a short-term stressful situation. (Author)

Examines the relationship between exposure to soap operas and perceptions about people and events in real life. Concludes that exposure to soap operas was found to relate to college students' perception of the numbers of professionals (lawyers, doctors, business people) and problems (divorce, illegitimacy, abortions, crimes, etc.) in real life.…

Examines the value of a university education for youth. University education is not desirable for every student graduating from high school. However, students who would benefit from an expanded life of the mind in terms of quality of their lives should not be discouraged from undertaking a liberal arts education. (Author/BEF)

Evaluates a social work program in a rural community designed to promote autonomous decision making by educating elderly people (n=32) about advance directives. Results revealed a continuum of willingness to address future decision making. The primacy of the family emerged throughout the study, suggesting that advance directives may be a family…

The growing number of people with AIDS and the incidence of suicide within this population make it increasingly likely that the mandatory suicide intervention strategy of many professionals may be swayed after contact with an infected person. Thus, AIDS may provide an impetus to change the traditional absolutist approach of suicide intervention…

An author's commentary on his experience living among Rutgers University students in a dormitory, focusing on the issues in student life, is reviewed. The author finds that student life is both better (more genuine, purposeful, and intellectual) and worse (hedonistic, racist, and sexist) than other scholars have argued. (Author/MSE)

Reveals that through the use of the movie "Groundhog Day," students in humanities courses can grasp Friedrich Nietzsche's myth of eternal recurrence; the myth addresses the question of what if everything that occurred in one's life occurred again just as it happened before. Discusses the similarities between Nietzsche's myth and the…

Adults with severe mental illness (n=44) were administered measures of job interviewing skills, psychiatric symptoms, work history, and quality of life before and after a 3-month Job Finding Club. Results suggested that participants with a lower quality of life were more likely to complete the program, and that quality of participation was…