Survey

Century High School in Sykesville was one of 23 Maryland high schools - and the only school in Carroll County - to earn a spot on Newsweek magazine's annual ranking of "America's Best High Schools" The listing, released this week, placed Century High as the No. 20 high school in Maryland, and ranked No. 854 in the country. The Newsweek survey ranked what it considers the "best" 1,000 public high schools in the nation. The list was based on six components provided by school administrators - graduation rate (25 percent)

Baltimore ranked sixth in a survey of the least-costly U.S. cities in which to do business, tax firm KPMG reported Thursday. KPMG's study — which reviewed 27 large metropolitan regions — examined 26 cost factors in each market, including labor, taxes, real estate and utilities, in 19 industries over a 10-year period. The tax firm cited Baltimore's lowest suburban office lease costs and low property-based taxes as reasons for its high rank. Cincinnati topped the list, followed by Atlanta; Orlando, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; and Dallas-Fort Worth.

The hunter-backed effort to bring wild elk back to western Maryland is gaining some steam, though fierce resistance remains in key quarters. A survey done by pro-hunting groups finds that nearly three-fourths of Marylanders asked favor restoring the large, majestic ungulates to the state's mountainous region, which hasn't seen any of the animals since the 1700s. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has been working with the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to review the biological, social and economic feasibility of restoring the species in the state.  The telephone survey, done by Responsive Management , a Virginia-based polling firm, was underwritten by the two foundations, according to a DNR press release about it. While the survey found widespread public support for bringing elk back to Maryland, the survey also found a strong current of opposition among some western Maryland farmers and others  who feared the large animals could jeopardize their livelihood, spread disease or damage their property.

According to The Daily Beast , Ocean City ranks No. 2 on its list of the 20 Most Popular U.S. Beaches , coming in ahead of Miami Beach, Honolulu, Coronado, Nags Head - just to mention a few destinations that were lower on the list. Surprised? Well, um, a little. But it must be true - they used math! To calculate the Top 20, the survey utilized data on 200 beaches from the nonprofit United States Lifesaving Association (USLA). Here's what The Daily Beast had to say about how it came up with the list: "We considered the 2010 total beach-attendance figures from the USLA as well as the total resident population of each beach town, according to the census, to determine which beaches had the most visitors overall, as well as those that lure the most guests compared with residents.

Whether it's coffee, cocktails, tea or juice, we want to know what you're drinking. There's still time to take part in our fourth annual reader survey online at baltimoresun.com/tastesurvey. Please respond by March 14, and look for the results this spring.

Here's the cheery message that greets all fathers as we slog through this wonderful spring of recession and layoffs and swine flu: Dear Dad, take a hike. I say this because of a new and depressing national survey released just in time for Mother's Day. The survey shows adult children would overwhelmingly choose to have Mom move in with them instead of Dad if their elderly parents couldn't take care of themselves. My fellow dads: Is this beautiful or what? In fact, the survey by Towson-based Senior Helpers, a provider of in-home care for the aging, showed that fully 70 percent of adult children would pick Mom over Dad. Yes, when it comes to making the big decision about which parent to take in, the thinking apparently goes like this: Poor old Mom needs a little help.

WASHINGTON -- Haven't got enough money to pay the bills? Scared stiff about crime? Convinced your kids won't be able to find a decent job?If so, you're smack in the middle of the anxiety-ridden American mainstream, according to a comprehensive new survey of national opinion released yesterday.The poll by the Times Mirror Co., which publishes The Sun and other newspapers, provides a glimpse into the volatile, dissatisfied mood of the country seven months before the 1994 midterm elections.It shows a nation that remains slow to brighten its outlook, more than two years into an economic recovery.

It's one of those rare times when you can be totally anonymous and honest about your workplace: the good and the bad. I'm talking about the employee survey. At one time or another, many of us have taken an opinion survey to gauge, among other things, morale, job satisfaction and changes we'd like to see in our organization. But do you ever wonder what exactly happens with our opinions and suggestions? Not much, according to a recent survey by Opinion Research Corp., a research and consulting firm based in Princeton, N.J. Of 807 workers, 51 percent of them said their organizations conduct employee surveys.

More than 50 percent of Americans expect that most home mortgages will originate over the Internet in the next five years, according to this year's Fannie Mae National Housing Survey. While noting concerns over Internet security from respondents, the survey found that people are gaining confidence in use of the Internet to purchase a home. The survey revealed that prospective homebuyers use the Internet as an "easier way to compare and apply for various mortgages, and as a way to reduce racial discrimination in borrowing."

TOKYO -- An important government survey released yesterday showed that the Japanese economy, struggling to emerge from a bruising two-year-old recession, is still deteriorating and may not recover for a year or more.The quarterly survey of thousands of companies by the Bank of (( Japan, known as the tankan, showed a steep decline in business executives' expectations for the future and indicated that they were planning to cut staff and reduce spending."The survey confirmed the stagnant economy with no signs for a recovery," conceded Kagehide Kaku, director of research at the Bank of Japan.