7/7/97

The following Ohio University professors are available for insightful interviews on topics in the news. Please contact Dwight Woodward at 614/593-1886 to arrange an interview.

NATIONAL POLL: AMERICANS INCREASINGLY DISTRUST GOVERNMENT:
Many Americans simply don't trust their government, according to a nationwide telephone poll overseen by Distinguished Professor of Journalism Guido Stempel at Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. The Ohio University-Scripps Howard News Service poll of 1,009 people in all 50 states indicates that 51 percent of the public believes it is at least somewhat likely that federal officials were directly responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. More than one-third said they suspect the U.S. Navy shot down TWA flight 800 near New York City last year. An even higher percentage said they believe it is possible the Central Intelligence Agency intentionally permitted Central American drug dealers to sell cocaine to inner city African Americans. The telephone survey was conducted June 15-29 and has a 4 percent margin of error.

NATIONAL PURPOSEFUL PARENTING MONTH:
Ohio University Psychology Professor Don Gordon has combined his background in studying parent-child relationships with high technology to create an interactive CD-ROM, "Parenting Adolescents Wisely." The CD-ROM presents a series of dramas portraying specific problems commonly faced by adolescents and their parents. Using a computer mouse, parents are asked to select the best solution to the problems and their selections are then depicted on the screen. A wrong selection sends the parent back to the beginning of the drama where he or she can review the situation again. The CD-ROM has been used by courts and social service agencies for counseling parents. Gordon says the program can work wonders, producing results that would take many expensive hours of counseling with a therapist.