| For immediate release May 22, 2000 |
Jessamyn Sarmiento 202-414-2300 jsarmiento@npr.org |
NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Talk of the Nation Take an In-Depth Look at the Changing Face of America Fourth Live Broadcast Forum To Be Held in Orlando, Florida on May 25
Orlando, Florida - NPR® Talk of the Nation®
host Juan Williams will lead a two-hour live discussion with local and
national experts on the elderly in America and intergenerational issues on
May 25, 2000 from Orlando, Florida. The live broadcast forum is part of an
18-month series called The Changing Face of America in which NPR explores
such diverse issues as immigration, intergenerational conflict, economic
development, urban growth, education, technology and leisure, all within the
context of a changing America.
Once a month, Talk of the Nation broadcasts
live from a city where important issues facing the community illuminate
American life in the year 2000. This month's Talk of the Nation live
broadcast forum, heard locally on NPR member station 90.7 WMFE FM, will take
place at the Marks Street Senior Recreation Complex in Orlando. For
additonal station information and broadcast times, please visit NPR's
webpage at: www.npr.org.
In the first hour, Juan Williams and his
guest Robert N. Butler, M.D., President & CEO of the International Longevity
Center, USA and Professor of Geriatrics at The Mount Sinai School of
Medicine in New York City will engage in a discussion with local residents
and callers from around the country about the elderly in America. Being
older is different than it was just a few years ago. Not only are people
living longer, but they are also more active. The discussion will focus on
how living a longer, more vigorous life is affecting the American family.
In the second hour, the discussion will
focus on generational and ethnic conflict issues. Guests include Susan
MacManus, Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern
Florida and author of Young versus Old: Generational Combat in the 21st
Century and David Colburn, Professor of History at the University of
Florida. Potential clashes are developing between an older, wealthier, white
population and a younger, poorer, ethnically diverse one. Chasms that divide
races and age groups can be very destructive. The discussion will explore
whether Florida - and the rest of the nation - can meet the challenge.
"Florida is a microcosm of the racial and
ethnic breakdown of the U.S. as a whole. Florida also has the largest
elderly population in the country. The state is considered by everyone to be
the best place to study intergenerational issues," said Susan MacManus.
"Polls show that nearly half of Florida's legislators expect
intergenerational tensions to increase over the next five years," she added.
As part of The Changing Face of America
series, NPR News correspondents are also going on the road to towns and
cities across America and reporting on how change is affecting local
communities and the nation. Reports from the series can be heard on NPR's
premiere newsmagazines Morning Edition® and All Things Considered®, in
addition to the live broadcast forums hosted by Talk of the Nation.
On May 24, NPR correspondent Linda
Wertheimer visits the third fastest growing city in the nation, Pembroke
Pines, Florida, and its smaller neighbor, Southwest Ranches. While Pembroke
Pines deals with the issues of rapid development, suburban sprawl and
traffic congestion, Southwest Ranches has sent a clear message - the
concrete stops here. They will not have shopping malls, more streetlights
and housing developments. And they already have restrictions on activities
such as grass cutting and keeping RVs in the front yard. In this installment
of The Changing Face of America, Wertheimer explores sprawl, development,
population growth and overcrowding in schools from the Florida perspective.
This report can be heard during All Things Considered.
NPR's Barbara Bradley, Wendy Schmeltzer and
Robert Smith report on elder workers and the changing work place. In ten
years, the massive baby boom generation will begin to reach retirement age,
but few companies have paid attention to the fact that there may not be
enough younger workers to replace them. High demand in some industries
(high-tech, services, retail) has coincided with massive lay-offs in others
(some manufacturing, mid and upper level management). To complicate matters
further, research indicates that many boomers regard full retirement as a
choice that no longer makes sense in an era where they're expected to live
longer, more productive lives. Listen to Morning Edition on May 29 to find
out where and how today's elderly and tomorrow's boomers will work.
For station information and broadcast times,
please visit NPR's webpage at: www.npr.org.
The Changing Face of America series is
supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Charitable
Trusts invest in ideas that fuel timely action and results. It is focusing
a significant portion of its resources on supporting programs that stimulate
participation in civic affairs. These include initiatives that foster a
citizenry more engaged in local, regional and national public issues and
that provide information resources for the media, the public and
policymakers.
Renowned for its journalistic excellence and
standard-setting news, information and cultural programming, NPR serves a
growing audience of nearly 15 million Americans each week via 644 public
radio stations. NPR also distributes programming to listeners in Europe,
Asia, Australia and Africa via NPR WorldwidesM, to military installations
overseas via American Forces Network, and throughout Japan via cable.
