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Call-to-action statements in tornado warnings are content analyzed to determine to what extent their wording has been influenced by recent research calling into question official safety guidelines and traditional advice regarding vehicles and mobile homes. While the statements do not directly contradict official guidelines and advice, there is significant variation among NWS offices regarding what advice is given and what guidelines are emphasized in call-to-action statements in tornado warnings. Some of this variation is regional, and interviews with NWS meteorologists reveal a frequent opinion that what is best to do if in a vehicle during a tornado warning may vary by region, time of day, and terrain. The interviews also reveal widespread awareness among NWS meteorologists of debates over tornado safety in vehicles and mobile homes, and strong support for local office autonomy in decisions about the wording of call-to-action statements.

This paper reports results of a telephone survey in the St. Louis metropolitan area assessing household earthquake awareness and preparedness in November 1997. This survey extends time-series data on awareness and preparedness in the area, which I obtained from earlier surveys conducted in October 1990, February 1991, July 1992, and May 1993. The previous surveys constitute the only time-series data assessing the effects of a pseudo-scientific earthquake prediction (in this case, one made by the late Iben Browning) with measurement of attitudes and beliefs both before and after disconfirmation of the prediction. In general, the new survey shows that both the perceived risk of a damaging earthquake and levels of household preparedness in the region have undergone steady, long-term declines since 1991. There has also been some decline in concern about earthquake risk since 1992. Nonetheless, there has been some lasting effect of preparation actions taken in response to Iben Browning's 1990 pseudoscientific earthquake prediction. For all three preparedness actions for which data are available from 1990 through 1997, the 1997 data indicate a higher level of preparedness than was observed in October 1990, two months before the date on which Browning said a damaging earthquake was likely. And the level of preparedness is much higher than was observed in the larger New Madrid region in another survey taken in 1987.

Two techniques are used to examine the extent to which racial housing segregation in the St. Louis metropolitan area in 1990 is attributable to income and housing cost differences between African-Americans and whites. Measurement of segregation within household-income categories revealed that, at all income levels, African-Americans and whites with similar incomes are about as segregated as African-Americans and whites overall. Indirect standardizations based on housing cost and tenure reveal that if those were the only causes of segregation, African-Americans and whites would be far less segregated than they are. The proportion of segregation attributable to such differences is even lower in 1990 than in past censuses.

There is a close correspondence between war and collective racial violence in the twentieth century United States. War stimulates minority group migration and often heightens the assertiveness of minorities. Both of these conditions may act to precipitate ethnic violence, though the form of that violence varies depending on social conditions. In popular wars following periods of economic scarcity and competition (e.g., World Wars I and II), minority population growth and heightened minority assertiveness may lead majority groups to feel threatened and act aggressively to protect their advantages. The result is often ethnic attack by the dominant group against minorities. Popular wars may also precipitate violence by creating a desire on the homefront for vicarious participation in overseas wars. The results of minority population growth and heightened assertiveness may be different in an unpopular war following a period of economic growth, especially if social upheaval is already occurring before the war (e.g., Vietnam). Under these conditions, minority population growth and minority assertiveness more often lead to minority group rebellions, and there may be little attempt at repression by dominant group civilians. Ethnic attack or collective repressive actions against minorities associated with "the enemy" are also common, especially in popular wars, but they are more likely to be directed at minorities who are already targets of prejudice and discrimination.