May 18, 1999

Here are descriptions of the radio stories available on the Ohio State University Info Line, May 21 through May 28, 1999. Stories are changed at noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All feeds include one wraparound report of approximately 1:00 and at least one other actuality plus background material. If you have questions, want additional information, or need a re-feed of a missed story, call Amy Murray at 614-292-8385.

Friday 5/21-Monday 5/24 - Within the next few years, many consumers will have a chance to choose their electric utility just like they choose their long-distance phone company. And for most people, that will mean lower prices. Kenneth Costello, a researcher at Ohio State’s National Regulatory Research Institute, says consumers should generally be happy with the restructuring of the electricity industry. While the impact won’t occur overnight, he says most people will see lower electric bills soon after deregulation occurs.

Monday 5/24-Wednesday 5/26 - Boys fear snakes, monsters and scary theme park rides more often than girls do, while girls fear thunder storms and the dark more than boys, according to a new study. Ohio State University Nursing Professor Nancy Ryan-Wenger examined the fears and anxieties of children 8 to 12 years old. She says the boys harbored fears related to animals, supernatural phenomena and safety, while the girls tended to fear natural phenomena. This seems to counteract the stereotype of what girls are typically afraid of.

Wednesday 5/26-Friday 5/28 - How do political experts react when their predictions -- about election results or the fate of countries or other important issues -- turn out to be completely wrong? They don’t worry about it. Ohio State University Political Science Professor Philip Tetlock found that experts shrug off their errors, claiming that they were “almost” right and that their understanding of the situation was basically sound. Tetlock says experts were often overconfident in their initial predictions, sometimes massively so. Experts who said they were 80 percent confident in their predictions ended up being right only about half the time.

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