Vested Interest - Trends - December 1998 Issue

Pollsters Take Drubbing for Fall Predictions

Through late October and into the closing hours of the Fall election, Illinois newspapers were predicting that Republican George Ryan would win by 15-20 percentage points. When the votes were tallied, Ryan took 51 of the vote, and Democrat Glenn Poshard tallied 47%. But on other issues, the pollsters were far more accurate. Nearly every survey predicted that voters would not use the election to voice disapproval of President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and many predicted that the generic vote would be close. In the end, Democrats picked up five seats in the House and held ranks in the Senate. (AP, November 14, 1998)

Meet the Real Santa

A survey conducted by mall operator General Growth Properties found that 91 % of the people who represent Santa Claus have real white beards and round bellies. Nearly three out of five (59%) have college or graduate degrees, and 54% use computers on a regular basis. Despite the preponderance of real round bellies, 89% are health conscious and exercise regularly. But not all is well. Only 20% are multi-lingual, and 26% can communicate in sign language. The average Santa has almost 10 years experience. (PRNewswire, November 24, 1998)

Decision Quest Poll Finds Juror Biases

Trial consultants Decision Quest and the National Law Journal released the results of their latest Juror Outlook Survey, a poll of 1,016 adults nationwide who are eligible for jury duty. The poll focused on attitudes in criminal trials, and found that a sizeable minority of jurors said they could not be impartial if the defendant was black, Hispanic, or homosexual. While a majority of respondents said they could be impartial regardless of the defendant's identity, 5% said they could notbe in cases involving Asians, 5% if African American, 5% if Hispanic, and 17% if homosexual. While 61 % said they trusted law enforcement officials, nearly a third, 32%, said they did not believe that officers told the truth on the witness stand. Defense attorneys interviewed said the bias did not worry them; that admitting they had a bias was the first step to putting it aside during the trial. (AP, October 23, 1998)

How to Ruin the Holiday Office Party

A survey for the Society for Human Resource Management measured which behaviors are most disruptive at office holiday parties. The biggest problem was excessive drinking, cited by 25% of the Society's members, followed by rowdy behavior (11 %), off-color jokes (8%), vulgar language (6%), unwanted sexual advances (6%), and fistfights (2%). Despite these findings, the survey found that alcohol will be available at 53% of this year's holiday fetes. Most (62%) will include non-employees, typically spouses. The average company will spend between $5,000 and $9,999 on the event. (PRNewswire, November 24, 1998)