American Sociological Association meeting -- August 20-25 San Francisco, California

For more information, contact Jennifer McNulty at (831) 459-2495 or jmcnulty@cats.ucsc.edu

Reporters are encouraged to register at the Media Room, Union Square Rooms 1 and 2, on the fourth floor of the San Francisco Hilton and Towers; a final program with location details will be available.

* Who rules America? Author says it's the power elite

When sociologist G. William Domhoff first asserted that a wealthy few Americans control the United States, he didn't know he was creating a classic in the field of sociology. But his book Who Rules America? became an academic best-seller, showing the institutional links among members of America's upper classes and how they influenced government policymaking through their support of foundations, think tanks, blue- ribbon commissions, and institutes at prestigious universities. The book was followed by Who Rules America Now?, and this year's Who Rules America? Power and Politics in the Year 2000, which includes new chapters on how the "power elite" influences party politics, the role of public opinion, and detailed case studies of key legislation.

"Americans as a group are reluctant to acknowledge the existence of the power elite, but the rich are in fact a very cohesive group that attends the same schools, goes to the same clubs, vacations at the same summer resorts, and shares a view of the world," says Domhoff, who does not find his work disillusioning. "I think if you understand what's going on, you've got a chance of dealing with it. The reason the elites are in power is that they're slightly better organized than the rest of us, and they have the resources to put in critical places. Ordinary Americans are less organized in terms of social power than people in any other advanced industrial society."

Not everyone agrees with Domhoff, who will defend his analysis during a session with three critics: Judith Stepan-Norris, assistant professor of sociology at UC Irvine; Paul Burstein, professor of sociology at the University of Washington; and Edward W. Lehman, professor of sociology at New York University.

Session 142: Author meets critics, Saturday, August 22, 10:30 a.m. "Who Rules America? Power and Politics in the Year 2000"

Domhoff may be reached at (831) 429-1446 or via e-mail at domhoff@cats.ucsc.edu.

* Milk as the perfect food: How the United States became a nation of milk drinkers

From picturesque milkmaids in the 1800s, to Elsie the Cow in the 1950s, to today's "Got Milk?" campaign, images and slogans from milk promotions have been imbedded in U.S. society for more than a century, reflecting our nation's role as one of the world's largest consumers of milk. Sociologist Melanie DuPuis examines with a critical eye milk's emergence as a cornerstone of the American diet. "The idea that we have to drink milk every day is really a product of modern society," notes DuPuis. "Cows only give milk when they're grazing, so daily milk wasn't even a concept until the late 1800s, when we developed a system to feed cows during the winter." DuPuis's talk, drawn from research on her forthcoming book, "Nature's Perfect Food: Milk and the Advent of Modern Eating," critiques existing histories of the dairy industry and traces the impact of industrialization on milk consumption and notions of nature and motherhood.

Session 38, Friday, August 21, 10:30 a.m. "The Body and the Country: Motherhood, Nature, and the Transformation of Milk Production"

DuPuis may be reached at her UC Santa Cruz office: (831) 459-5376 or via e- mail at emdupuis@cats.ucsc.edu.

Jennifer McNulty Public Information Representative University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (831) 459-4399 fax: (831) 459-5795 jmcnulty@cats.ucsc.edu

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