RESULTS OF THE STUDENT ATTITUDE SURVEY. At the beginning of last year's public policy class, I did a survey of student attitudes that borrowed from a survey conducted by the National Association of Scholars. Did it again this year. Again, respondents are students in a Government and Business course that has an introductory economics prerequisite. I modified a couple of the questions from the poll. First, I offered the statement, "Here are several examples of business practices that are generally regarded as good. Which one of these business practices would probably rank as the most important?"

14.3% (5 of 35 respondents) chose "recruiting a diverse workforce in which women and minorities are advanced and promoted." Not much change from the 3 of 30 a year ago.

Thirteen, or 37.1 percent, chose "providing clear and accurate business statements to stockholders and creditors," compared with half the class a year ago. How quickly the scandal of the day becomes history?

Only three chose "minimizing environmental pollution by adopting the latest anti-pollution technology and complying with government regulations," which about a quarter of the class selected a year ago.

I wonder if we have an indicator of local conditions. Last year, one respondent chose "avoiding layoffs by not exporting jobs or moving plants from one area to another." This time, eleven people selected that choice. Three were not sure.

I also offered the assertion, "The only real difference between executives at Enron and those at most other big companies, is that those at Enron got caught."
Four respondents strongly disagreed, sixteen agreed somewhat, ten disagreed somewhat, four strongly disagreed, and one was not sure. That outcome is very much like the outcome I reported a year ago.

I took an administrative reassignment for the fall semester which bought out the principles course. Accordingly, there is no repeat of this survey.