Public Law 102-325 (enacted July 23, 1992) reauthorizes the Higher Education Act of 1965, which provides grants and loans to postsecondary students. It increases Pell Grants to a maximum of $3,700 during academic year 1993-94 and Stafford Loans from $2,625 to $3,500 for second-year college students. The bill allows any student, regardless of means, to obtain federally guaranteed loans. In addition, a family's home or farm equity is no longer included in calculations of how much aid a student needs to attend school. Other features of the bill include a demonstration program that would allow the Government to make direct loans to students at large colleges and universities; loss of program participation eligibility for schools with significant default rates on student loans; and a new Teacher Corps Program to provide college aid to prospective teachers.

Public Law 102-342 (enacted August 14, 1992)—the Child Nutrition Amendments of 1992 amends the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. It improves the availability of food to homeless children by including reimbursement payments for meals and supplements served on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. It authorizes establishment of a voluntary Breast-Feeding Promotion Program to promote breast-feeding as the best method of infant nutrition, foster wider public acceptance of breastfeeding, and assist in the distribution of breast-feeding equipment. The bill also extends the demonstration program that allows school districts to receive cash or commodity letters of credit for lunch programs.

Public Law 102-356 (enacted August 26, 1992)—the Public Telecommunications Act of 1992 authorizes appropriations for public broadcasting activities through 1996. Under the bill, most commercial and public radio and television stations may not broadcast indecent material between the hours of 6 a.m. and midnight. Also, public television stations must make every effort to close caption their programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The bill requires the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to report to Congress on the most effective way to establish and implement a ready-to-learn public television channel for the Nation's children.

Public Law 102-375 (enacted September 30, 1992)-the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1992 amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1992 through 1995. Funded programs for senior citizens include congregate meals and meals on wheels, senior transportation, elder abuse prevention, homemaking assistance, referral services, ombudsman activities to protect seniors under long-term care, and community service employment. The bill also authorizes a 1993 National Conference on Aging.

Public Law 102-385 (enacted October 5, 1992) Cable Television Reregulation requires the Federal Communications Commission to regulate basic cable rates and services for the Nation's 56 million cable viewers and also requires cable programmers to deal fairly with. competitors such as satellite operators, wireless cable, telephone, and other cable franchises. A cable operator that retransmits the signals of regular broadcast companies may be required to pay royalties to the owners of those signals.

Public Law 102-401 (enacted October 7, 1992)—the Head Start Improvement Act of 1992 amends the Head Start Act to expand services provided by Head Start programs; to expand the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reduce the amount of matching funds required to be provided by particular Head Start agencies; and to authorize the purchase of Head Start facilities. The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to issue safety regulations with regard to vehicles used for the transportation of Head Start children.

Garman, E.T., Miescier, M.C., and Jones, P.B. 1992. Older Americans' knowledge of consumer rights and legal protection. Journal of Consumer Studies and Home Economics 16:283291.

Consumer knowledge and legal protection were measured in a telephone survey of a stratified random national sample of 1,305 older adults in the United States. The sample was divided into five age groups: 25-49, 50-64, 65-74, 75-84 and 85 and older. Respondents were asked eight questions dealing with knowledge of consumer rights and protection. Consumer knowledge was poor and was not gender specific. As the age of the respondents increased, their knowledge score decreased. Those who were married or who were previously married scored higher than other groups.

Goldberg, W.A., Greenberger, E., Hamill, S., and O'Neil, R. 1992. Role demands in the lives of employed single mothers with preschoolers. Journal of Family Issues 13(3):312333.

This study examined a range of factors associated with variations in single mothers' well-being (i.e., depression and role strain) and perceptions of their child's behavior. Seventy-six single, employed women with a preschool-age child completed a mailed survey. Multiple regression analyses indicated that variables reflecting the interface between work and family roles (e.g., beliefs about the consequences of maternal employment for children, perceived quality of child care) were important for both women's well-being and perceptions of children's behavior. Depression

appeared to be more closely allied with the stability and resources in single mothers' lives; role strain, with the time and energy demands of work and the level of support available in the neighborhood. Interestingly, single women's perceptions of their children were associated with variables that reflect the larger ecology of their lives, including recency of single parenthood, the quality of their work life, and, as already noted, points of intersection between work and family roles.

Jensen, G.A. and Morrisey, M.A. 1992. Employer-sponsored postretirement health benefits: Not your mother's medigap plan. The Gerontologist 32(5):693-703.

Using nationally representative data, we report the prevalence of retiree health insurance as a fringe benefit in private and public settings, and take an in-depth look at its content. We examine how it coordinates with Medicare to characterize the "total insurance" of beneficiaries who hold these supplements. Retiree health coverage is now widespread and typical benefits are far more generous than those found in medigap policies, the other major type of Medicare supplement. When a typical retiree plan is overlaid on Medicare, the resulting total insurance benefits are more generous than those held by either the working nonelderly or beneficiaries with a medigap supplement.

Morse, R.L.D. 1992. Truth in Savings With Centsible InterestTM and Morse Rate Tables. Family Economics Trust Press, Manhattan, KS.

This book was written for depositors who want to know all the facts about how their money is handled, and for financial institutions that offer consumer-friendly banking products and services. There are over 7.8 million different ways interest could be calculated. The Truth in Savings Act, passed in 1991, simplifies this situation for depositors by requiring depository institutions to disclose a uniform, standardized rate of interest so that depositors can compare savings options. Three basic rates are compared using definitions and examples-the annual percentage yield (APY), the annual percentage rate or annual rate of simple interest (APR), and the periodic percentage rate (PPR), which is the rate actually paid. Included are tables that give the PPR and the APR for any given APY, and the amount of interest for selected days. A section is included on the history of the Truth in Savings Act (Public Law 102-242). The act is reprinted with summaries and comments for each section. The book concludes with a summary of what truth in savings means for banks, S&L's, and credit unions; for consumer-savers; and for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board.

Richard L.D. Morse is professsor emeritus at Kansas State University, where he was head of the Department of Family Economics from 1955 to 1982.