The Page That Counts: Fall 2011

Japan's March, 2011 earthquake.

Photo by J808Armada.

Percentage of Americans who, when surveyed, considered “climate change” to be real: 74

Percentage who considered “global warming” to be real: 68

Percentage of Republicans who considered “climate change” to be real: 60

Percentage of Republicans who considered “global warming” to be real: 44 [1]

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Approximate number of feet the seabed off Japan’s coast moved sideways in the March 11, 2011 earthquake: 65 [2]

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Dollars that 93 multinational corporations spent on lobbying for the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, a year-long “tax holiday”: 282.7 million

Dollars that the corporations saved on taxes as a result of the legislation: 62.5 billion [3]

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Population of Pakistan: 187,340,000 [4]

Number of psychiatrists in Pakistan in 2007: 250 [5]

Population of the state of New York: 19,378,000 [6]

Number of psychiatrists in New York: 3,440 [7]

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Percentage of Americans who think college is affordable for most people today: 22

Percentage of American college presidents who think college is affordable for most people today: 42 [8]

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Length, in miles, of the planned sub-Saharan “Great Green Wall” of trees, intended to reduce soil erosion: 4,831

Width, in miles: 9.3

Number of countries the Great Green Wall will cross: 11 [9]

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Percentage of American private sector jobs that required at least moderate physical activity in 1960: 48

Percentage of American private sector jobs that require at least moderate physical activity today: 20

Estimated increase, in pounds, in the weight of the average American male, due to a more sedentary work life: 28 [10]

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Photo by The Consumerist.

Percentage of McDonald’s job applicants hired as a result of the company’s National Hiring Day in April 2011: 6.2 [11]

Percentage of applicants accepted to Harvard for the class of 2015: 6.2 [12]

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Approximate number of different types of fungi growing in the Pacific Northwest: 5,000

In 2009, number of search and rescue missions for lost mushroom pickers in Oregon: 18

In 2010: 30+  [13]

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More Page That Counts
		Summer 2011 Bank of America’s 2009 pre-tax income: $4.4 billion; amount Bank of America paid in taxes in 2009: $0 ... Read more...				Spring 2011 Amount of real money Jon Jacobs received for virtual online real estate: $635,000. Average price of a home in the U.S.: $170,600. Read more...

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Sources:

1. “It's all in a name: ‘Global warming' versus 'climate change,’” University of Michigan News Service, March 8, 2011.

2. “Instruments saw Japan quake lurch,” Jonathan Amos, BBC News, May 19, 2011.

3. “Measuring Rates of Return for Lobbying Expenditures: An Empirical Analysis under the American Jobs Creation Act,” Raquel Meyer Alexander, Social Science Research Network, April 8, 2009.

4. “Pakistan,” Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, June 15, 2011.

5. “Shortage of psychiatrists a problem in Pakistan,” Khabir Ahmad, September 8, 2007.

6. “Redistricting Data,” U.S. Census Bureau, June 2011.

7. “Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2010: Psychiatrists,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 17, 2011.

8. “Is College Worth It?” Pew Research Center Publications, May 15, 2011.

9. “One Million Applications, 62,000 Jobs Served At McDonald’s,” CBSChicago.com, April 28, 2011.

10.  “Harvard Accepts Record Low 6.2 Percent of Applicants to the Class of 2015,” Justin C. Worland, The Harvard Crimson, March 31, 2011.

11.  “AFRICA: Opposition building to Great Green Wall,” Integrated Regional Information Network, April 8, 2011.

12. “Trends over 5 Decades in U.S. Occupation-Related Physical Activity and Their Associations with Obesity,” Timothy S. Curch, Public Library of Science, May 25, 2011.

13. “The Surprisingly Exciting world of Mushroom Picking,” Rachael Brown, Smithsonian.com, January 27, 2011.