10/2/96

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.

OCTOBER IS COMPUTER LEARNING MONTH: October is computer learning month, a time for children and adults to hone their computer skills. But the public outcry following reports that personal information on most Americans was being offered by Nexis-Lexis points to a more ominous side of the technology, according to John Gilliom, associate professor of political science. The author of the book Surveillance, Privacy, and the Law: Employee Drug Testing and the Politics of Social Control, Gilliom has studied the impact of computers on privacy and written assorted journal articles on surveillance and privacy issues. His current research centers on the implementation of a revolutionary new system of computer surveillance in Ohio's welfare administration system. Gilliom conducted numerous interviews with welfare administrators, caseworkers and clients for his book, an empirically based account of how large numbers of people respond to increased exposure to surveillance mechanisms.

MINIMUM WAGE EQUALS MORE UNEMPLOYMENT: "Minimum Wage, Minimum Effect" was the headline of the New York Times story reviewing the impact of an increase in the minimum wage from $4.25 to $4.75 starting Oct. 1. Not so, says Distinguished Professor of Economics Richard Vedder, who predicts the increase in minimum wage will increase the number of unemployed by hundreds of thousands. And Vedder should know. He is co-author of Out of Work: Unemployment and Government in Twentieth-Century America, which traces the history of unemployment. "Looking at minimum wage increases in 1974, 1981 and 1990, there is a historic job loss associated with an increase," Vedder said. "In 1990, the job loss associated with the minimum wage increase was close to a half million jobs. We went into a recession within 30 days of when the minimum wage was increased." Vedder says raising the minimum wage forces employers to lay off workers because they can't afford the increased labor costs. "The effects for overall labor costs are greater than what you might expect," saidVedder. "There is a domino effect. There will be more people unemployed at the beginning of 1997 than there are now."

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES: Jerry Miller, assistant professor of interpersonal communication and director of forensics, is a member of a national research team studying national and gubernatorial elections. Miller studied the dynamics of political advertisements and newspaper coverage in Texas and California elections in 1990 and 1994. As a member of the 1996 Election Communication Team, Miller will be examining the political debates, advertisements, print and broadcast news coverage of the 1996 presidential election, specifically looking at the presidential campaign and also how it's covered in Ohio. He will be available for interviews following the Oct. 6 and Oct. 16 presidential debates and the Oct. 9 vice presidential debate, providing an analysis of the debates and the impact on the polls and the Nov. 5 election.