In Brief: Sep. 3, 2001

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KID-FRIENDLY CITIES Environmental group Zero Population Growth has issued a report grading 239 U.S. cities on the quality of life they provide children. The study looked at access to quality health care, public safety, education and environmental cleanliness, as well as park acres per 1,000 persons and library circulation per child. The group gave its No. 1 ranking to Portland, Ore. The full report can be viewed at www.kidfriendlycities.org/2001/

CITY RANK* GRADE

New York City 4 A Los Angeles 19 C Chicago 16 B Houston 9 B+ Philadelphia 17 B Phoenix, Ariz. 18 C+ San Diego 10 B+ Dallas 12 B Detroit 24 C- San Jose, Calif. 9 B+

*out of the 25 largest cities in U.S.

FAMILY TIES Exposing transracial adoptees to their birth cultures might not be as vital to their psychological well-being as is popularly assumed, according to researchers at St. John's University. The team surveyed 51 nonwhite adults who had been adopted as children by two white parents. The adoptees who identified with the culture of their adoptive parents were found to be neither better nor worse adjusted psychologically than those who were immersed in their birth cultures.

PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT According to an annual poll by Gallup and Phi Delta Kappa, an international educators' organization, for the first time in 33 years a majority (51%) of Americans gave their local schools As and Bs. Only 5% assigned public schools an F.

--By Lisa McLaughlin