Harper’s Index

Change since last fall in the number of network sitcoms whose main characters are members of the same family: -25¹

Points by which the national Nielsen rating of the 1999 Women's World Cup exceeded that of the NBA Finals: 2²

Number of channels offered when TV came to Fiji's Nadroga province in 1995: 1³

Percentage change since then in the incidence of self-induced vomiting among girls there since TV came to the island in 1995: +300⁴

Chance that an American murdered at school in the last two years was a girl: 1 in 4⁵

Chance of this: 1 in 20 ⁶

Estimated rounds of ammunition bought by the City University of New York since 1995 to train its security force: 110,000⁷

Number of U.S. high schools that have hired a Massachusetts firm to test students' hair for evidence of drug use: 80⁸

Chance that a Wyoming inmate under the age of 18 has used crystal meth more than once: 1 in 2 ⁹

Average number of different drug prescriptions filled each year by an American over the age of 74: 12¹⁰

Percentage change since 1995 in the number of heroin overdoses in greater Orlando, Florida: +107¹¹

Maximum amount of time that a suspect in Florida can be held in jail without being assigned a lawyer, in hours: 24¹²

Maximum amount of time that a recent Texas bill proposed holding suspects before assigning a lawyer, in days: 20¹³

Number of death sentences upheld by Texas courts since 1990 for men whose lawyers slept during their trials: 3¹⁴

Number of Texas and California counties colonized by African “killer” bees since 1994: 51¹⁵

Number of millennia before humans first farmed that farmer ants were farming the spongy fungus on which they feed: 50,000¹⁶

Maximum fine to which a British grocer will be subject next year for using anything other than the metric system: £5,000¹⁷

Hours of helicopter lessons required for the new “Super Butler” degree at London's most expensive butler school: 60¹⁸

Pages of the British royal family's medical records found in a folder lying by the side of a Scottish road last March: 70¹⁹

Percentage of the proceeds of an AIDS fund-raising bike ride across Texas last fall used to cover “production costs”: 85²⁰

Percentage of its AIDS drugs that a 1997 agreement requires South Africa to buy from U.S. companies: 100²¹

Ratio of the price in South Africa of a month's worth of U.S. AIDS drugs to what Indian-made drugs would cost: 7:1²²

Minimum estimated number of Sierra Leoneans whose limbs, ears, or lips were chopped off last year by rebel forces: 4,000²³

Portion of all U.S. arms sales abroad between 1993 and 1997 that were brokered by the Pentagon: 1/2²⁴

Number of years this century in which Taiwan has been directly controlled by mainland China: 4²⁵

Amount for which Cuba has announced it will sue the U.S. over casualties caused by the trade embargo: $181,100,000,000²⁶

Average number of full-time surgeons on call in East Timor: 1²⁷

Factor by which “a cynical view” and an “aggressive” personality may increase arterial calcium deposits: 2²⁸

Number of years since an elected New York City mayor went on to win higher office: 131²⁹

Percentage of white Pennsylvania men denied gun ownership between 1778 and 1789 for refusing a state loyalty oath: 40³⁰

Number of U.S. presidents besides Bill Clinton who have made an official visit to an Indian reservation since 1937: 0³¹

Amount the Bush campaign spent for one day's use of a plot of land near the entrance to last month's Iowa straw poll: $43,500³²

Amount that Florida governor Jeb Bush's wife spent on a 5-day shopping trip to Paris last June: $19,000³³

Amount she declared to U.S. Customs: $500³⁴

Percentage of Americans who say Hillary Clinton's campaign will be more successful if her husband doesn't try to help: 69³⁵

Speed at which an Iowa state trooper clocked a car last July in which Pat Buchanan was on the phone with Oliver North: 66³⁶

Price of the ticket that North, via cell phone, charmed the trooper out of writing: $54³⁷

Number of CDs of inspirational and patriotic music for which Senator Orrin Hatch has composed the lyrics: 6³⁸

Length in minutes of Newt Gingrich's monthly head massage at the Bubbles hair salon in Washington, D.C.: 5³⁹

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