* WINNERS: College graduates. A new study by researchers at Northeastern University in Boston shows that the earning power of people with a college degree is on the rise.
For example, in 1979, male college graduates earned about 25 percent more than their high school graduate counterparts. By 1992, that gap had widened to 70 percent. For women, the difference was even greater, with college graduates' pay now averaging 120 percent more than for high school graduates, up from a 77 percent disparity in 1979.The reason for the changes: the shift of the economy away from factory jobs and toward service-oriented work.
* WINNER: Salt Lake City - because the overall crime rate in the Utah capital dropped 9 percent last year - a decline three times greater than the national average.
LOSER: Salt Lake City. Despite the drop in the overall crime rate, the latest FBI figures also show a 6.4 percent increase in crimes involving violence.
* WINNER: Religion. Just ask George Cornell, retiring religion writing for the Associated Press. He reports that as of 1992 the amount of money contributed to religion in the United States was $56.7 billion compared with the $4 billion spent on professional football, baseball and basketball. In terms of attendance, churches drew 5.6 billion in 1993 - about 55 times greater than the 103 million total attendance reported by the three main pro sports leagues.
WINNER: The economy. A new surge in its leading economic barometer leads the U.S. Department of Commerce to conclude that the economy will keep expanding through the rest of 1994, surmounting such obstacles as last winter's horrid weather and climbing interest rates.
LOSERS: The National Guard - and national security. Just ask the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. It recently surveyed guard and reserve units around the country and found they are not only undertrained for emergency combat duty but also many troops are not physically fit to fight. At one unit, 16 percent of the members were kept on the roster even though they failed a fitness test repeatedly. Clearly, the Pentagon needs to get tougher on its civilian soldiers.