Defining the concept "rural" to the satisfaction of demographers, policymakers, educational researchers, sociologists, journalists, and legislators is an ongoing and complex problem. As a sampling of definitions used by different researchers/agencies illustrates, the two categories of definitions of rural--qualitative and…

Conceptualizing high local fiscal stress as a variable which includes low fiscal capacity, high local tax effort and high local need requires building a typology reflecting this conceptualization. This study builds such a typology for 166 counties in the northeastern United States and examines the effects of variables taken from a series of…

Resulting from the involvement of LaGuardia Community College (LCC) in an Urban Demonstration Project, this report discusses a community needs assessment conducted by LCC, provides a profile of the community of Western Queens, and relates needs assessment findings to a separate study by a consulting firm which focused on the community's…

A number of problems facing Hispanics in general and Mexican Americans in particular lend themselves to local solutions rather than Federal intervention. From a community relations standpoint, there are three major areas of concern for Hispanics nationally: education, immigration and the administration of justice. The two major educational…

Issues clarification, skills and techniques, and methods and strategy in Extension public policy education were the themes of the conference. The first keynote speaker, R.J. Hildreth, justified public policy education by home economist and community resource development educators. The second keynote speaker, J.B. Wyckoff, described the function of…

The economic impact of St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, on the local economy was studied. Using models developed by the American Council on Education, estimates were made of the dollar outlays by the local economic sectors that are associated with or influenced by the university. The focus is the measurable impacts, in dollar terms, of the…

Decisions concerning large-scale energy development projects near small communities or in predominantly rural areas are usually complex, requiring cooperation of all levels of government, as well as the general public and the private sector. It is unrealistic to expect the typical small community to develop capabilities to independently evaluate a…

To compare various socio-demographic indicators and attitudes on community issues of recent urban to rural migrants with those of native residents, personal interviews were conducted with an adult in 3391 households in the 5 county Meramec Area of Missouri during the fall of 1977. Of the respondents, 24% had lived in the county 7 years or less,…

In order to identify and obtain an assessment of public attitudes about "quality of life" conditions and issues in Tuscarawas County, 25 students enrolled on the Tuscarawas Campus of Kent State University were specially trained to conduct interviews with a random sample of 307 Tuscarawas County residents and 50 specially selected…

The series of papers grew out of a Rural Economic Development Planning workshop conducted on the Oklahoma State University campus, July 1971, for personnel in agencies actively engaged in applying and disseminating rural development research. The first four papers supplied basic information to workshop participants: Rural development was defined…

The British North America Act of 1867, the founding constitution of Canada, provides that all matters pertaining to Indians and Indian lands are under Federal jurisdiction. Because of this, the province of British Columbia (BC) has not felt it could do much for native peoples and little attention has been paid to the extension of provincial…

A televote system to aid two-way communication between public officials and constituents was developed and demonstrated in the San Jose Unified School District. The objectives of the system are: (1) to provide citizens and public officials information on community problems; (2) to provide civic planners knowledge of the views of citizens so their…

In this study of Benson, Minnesota, Professors Martindale and Hanson examine the sources and manifestations of local-translocal tensions in the institutional life of a typical small town. The authors begin by describing the town's physical and cultural setting, and briefly sketch the community's history. Their examination of the attitudes and…

Recognizing that knowledge will enable the world's people to cope with worldwide relationships, Alger criticizes the social sciences for inhibiting needed research that would increase awareness of the linkages between human settlements and worldwide phenomena. Presents a progress report on the effort to identify islands of inquiry into the…

In this lesson plan, the city of Malibu (CA) is at the mercy of the weather phenomenon El Nino. The press secretary for the Mayor of Malibu recognizes an opportunity to turn this potential natural disaster into a re-election campaign. A task force will be assembled to protect the lives and property of the community. Students role play members of…