CONTACT: Michael T. Childress, Michal Smith-Mello, or Peter Schirmer
FRANKFORT, KY (December 31, 1996) — The Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center today released its second biennial report on trends influencing the future of the Commonwealth. Exploring the Frontier of the Future: How Kentucky will live, learn and work includes 30 essays prepared by some of the state’s leading experts on issues affecting quality of life, education, the economy, the environment and government.
As envisioned by the Kentucky General Assembly, the 296-page report offers citizens and policymakers alike a body of information about opportunities, problems and uncertainties on the horizon that can be used, in the words of Center Board Chair Paul B. Cook, "to help chart a path toward a more prosperous and more enlightened future."
State Historian James Klotter introduces the volume of essays with the reminder that "slavish devotion to the past is as dangerous as too little." Among the topics:
- State Demographer Michael Price details the "homecoming" now underway, as native Kentuckians join a stream of migrants to the state that is reversing an era of population decline.
- University of Kentucky Professors Graham Rowles and John Watkins examine the implications of the "Age of Age" which will become more pronounced as Baby Boomers grow older.
- Eastern Kentucky University Professor John Curra assesses the long-term social and fiscal costs of current approaches to crime and punishment.
- Prichard Committee Executive Director Robert Sexton and Stephen Clements grade the progress and gauge what lies ahead for school reform in Kentucky.
- University of Kentucky Professor Will Snell estimates future market potential for Kentucky’s key agricultural crop—burley tobacco.
- Western Kentucky Professor Saundra Ardrey measures the progress of human rights in the state.
- Ted Grossardt of the Kentucky Transportation Center maps the road ahead for the Commonwealth’s transportation system.
- University of Louisville Professor Peter Meyer projects the consequences of intersecting economic and environmental trends.
- Manager of the University of Kentucky’s Technology Applications Center, Dick Dedic explores the areas of technological entrepreneurship with greatest potential for the state.
Hard copies may be obtained by contacting the center.
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