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The article presents information on the 1968 Convention staged by the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA). Its theme, Total Awareness-Total Commitment, proved to be more than just a catchword or slogan; it typified an atmosphere which made this year's Convention truly unique for its 9,041 participants. Most people who attend conventions know little of the preparations, decisions, frustrations, and grueling extra hours required to organize an APGA Convention. The 1968 Convention in Detroit, Michigan, had all of the elements of a regular APGA Convention and more. National and local circumstances, resulting from the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., U.S. clergyman and leader in the civil rights movement, caused the Governor of Michigan and Mayor of Detroit to impose on the city a day-by-day 5 p.m. curfew, which placed the whole notion of public assembly in daily jeopardy. Because of the curfew, all evening general and theme sessions were cancelled. Still, a record number of content meetings and ancillary meetings were held during the daytime hours.

The article presents some findings from an exploratory study dealing with the relationship between certain personality characteristics and the adoption of farm practices. Data were obtained in 1957 by personal interviews with a sample of 23 farm operators residing in a central Iowa rural community. According to the author, a personality characteristic which one might expect to be positively related to adoption is knowledge of new farm practices. A farmer does not adopt a new practice until he (1) receives information about the existence of the new practice and (2) gains knowledge about specific details, such as how much to use and where to obtain needed materials. An awareness knowledge index was developed to measure knowledge of the existence of some very new farm practices. An adoption knowledge index was constructed to measure knowledge of the specific details about practices in the adoption scale. Of the seven personality variables that were studied as they related to adoption, only rigidity, change orientation, innovative proneness and adoption self-ratings were found to be significantly related.

The article focuses on the efforts of the press to keep abreast of the new atomic developments in the U.S. It is stated that the press stands as the only representative of the public that can conduct an aggressive campaign to straighten out the confusion underlying the public apathy on the subject of atomic warfare. According to the author, the atomic bomb burst on a completely unprepared public, in which the press, all but forbidden even to mention uranium, had been unable to make the somewhat gradual, preparatory explanation that has eased the path for scientific and technological advance in other fields. Moreover, when the Hiroshima explosion shocked the world, there were few people who even had any idea what an atom might be.

The article presents comments of the author on the symposium "Neighborhoods and Citizen Involvement." This symposium originated out of an effort by the National Capital Area Chapter of American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) to have a better understanding of issues and problems associated with citizen involvement and participation. A local conference on citizen participation was held in April 1970 and a chapter-sponsored study/action group on citizen participation evolved from that conference. Contents of this symposium vary deliberately from the normal Public Administration Review symposium structure. It is the opinion of this symposium editor and contributors to this symposium that more attention should be focused on specific issues that concern public administrators. Papers and comments on papers are designed to provoke an awareness of the hard issues surrounding the topic of citizen participation. The policy recommendation section is included in order to encourage an active and enlightened professional debate on citizen participation. This symposium is viewed as the catalyst to that debate and ultimately to an ASPA policy position on the "proper" role of citizen participation in public administration.