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The results of last week's special U.S. Senate election in Oregon may have an effect on more than just the people of Oregon.

The election may someday impact nationwide voting patterns and especially student voters, according to University researchers.

The special election was the nation's first congressional election to be conducted entirely by mail.

Democrat Ron Wyden defeated Republican Gordon Smith in the race to fill the seat of Bob Packwood, who resigned under pressure last September.

A team of researchers led by University communication studies Prof. Michael Traugott will spend several months analyzing the impact of Oregon's vote-by-mail procedure on the voting attitudes, composition and turnout of the electorate, and outcome of both the general election and primary race.

Vote-by-mail might have a substantial effect on students, Traugott said. Many political scientists believe students generally don't vote away from home and are sometimes not aware of registration procedures, he said.

Traugett said vote-by-mail would presumably increase student participation.

Automakers look to future of industry

North American automakers are gearing up to face challenges presented by changing technology, improving fuel economy and increasing regulation in the next 10 years, according to a University forecast.

The report is part of the eighth annual University Delphi Forecast and Analysis of the American Automotive Industry, which polls more than 300 automotive experts on trends in technology, materials and marketing through 2005.

According to the forecast, standards for Corporate Average Fuel Economy are projected to increase to 32 mph for passenger cars and 25 mph for light trucks and vans during the next decade.

Researchers say they expect gasoline to remain the dominant fuel in the next decade, in spite of a projected increase in gasoline prices. Also, limited use of alternate energy sources is forecast for cars and light trucks by that time.

Study tracks transition to retirement

A study designed to track the behavior, health and economic well-being of people making the transition from work to retirement in the 1990s published its results last month in a special issue of the Journal of Human Resources.

"The Health and Retirement Study is one of the largest and most ambitious academic social science projects ever undertaken," said economics Prof. F. Thomas Juster, the chief investigator of the study.

The National Institute on Aging sponsored the study.

Among the findings in journal articles:

-- Approximately 13 percent of the people surveyed had a heart condition, 10 -- Sixty-two percent found it somewhat or very difficult to run or jog a mile, -- The mean net worth of all Americans between the ages of 51 and 61 was -- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Soumya Mohan.