3/90Estimated amount of oil spilled off the coast of Morocco in December, expressed as a percentage of the Valdez spill: 186

Cutter Information Corp. (Arlington, Mass.)

3/90Percentage change, since 1980, in federal spending on research and development of renewable energy sources: -84

Congressional Research Service (Washington)

    Percentage of U.S. electrical power that comes from renewable resources: 11

U.S. Dept. of Energy

3/90Number of the chemicals used to make plastic that rank among the 6 leading producers of hazardous waste: 5

Environmental Action Foundation (Washington)

3/90Factor by which the blood lead level OSHA permits in workers exceeds maximum safety levels proposed by the EPA: 4

Conservation Law Foundation (Boston)

3/90Percentage increase, since 1977, in the number of American children diagnosed as having learning disabilities: 142

Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities (Pittsburgh)

3/90Percentage increase, since 1950, in the incidence of cancer among American children: 22

National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, Md.)

3/90Portion of all deaths worldwide that are of children under the age of 5 in developing countries: 1/3

United Nations (N.Y.C.)

3/90Estimated number of stone-throwing incidents in the occupied territories each day: 64

Israeli Embassy (Washington)

    Estimated percentage of Palestinian stone-throwers who are under 13 years of age: 60

Israeli Embassy (Washington)

3/90Percentage of Israel’s 1989 defense budget that was spent to combat the intifada: 4

Israeli Consulate (N.Y.C.)

3/90Ratio of U.S. soldiers killed to those wounded in the U.S. invasion of Panama: 1:14

U.S. Defense Dept.

    Ratio of Panamanian soldiers killed to those wounded in the invasion: 2:1

U.S. Defense Dept.

    Percentage of the Panamanians killed in the invasion who were civilians: 39

U.S. Defense Dept.

3/90Number of times the phrase “do the right thing” has been used in Congress since Spike Lee’s film was released last June: 67

Mike Mills, Congressional Insight (Washington)

    Number of times the phrase was used in reference to a congressional pay raise: 16

Mike Mills, Congressional Insight (Washington)

    Number of times it was used in reference to racial issues: 1

Mike Mills, Congressional Insight (Washington)

3/90Percentage of Americans who say that in a democracy, personal freedom is more important than equality: 72

Social Surveys-Gallup Poll (London)

3/90Number of gay marriages that have taken place in Copenhagen since they became legally binding last October: 150

Danish Ministry of Justice (Copenhagen)

3/90Percentage of U.S. insurance companies that say they “consider sexual orientation in underwriting”: 29

U.S. Office of Technology Assessment

3/90Percentage of journalists who say they would permit their child to have contact with a schoolmate with AIDS: 64

Center for Media and Public Affairs (Washington)

    Percentage of scientists who say this: 39

Center for Media and Public Affairs (Washington)

3/90Chances that a U.S. obstetrician has been sued at least once: 7 in 10

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (Washington)

3/90Percentage of American parents who say they yell at their children every day: 19

USA Today poll (Arlington, Va.)

3/90Chances that an American woman is married, has children, and says she has a “successful career”: 2 in 5

Time-CNN poll, Yankelovich Clancy Shulman (Westport, Conn.)

3/90Chances that an American woman considers herself a strong supporter of the women’s movement: 1 in 5

Time-CNN poll, Yankelovich Clancy Shulman (Westport, Conn.)

3/90Average percentage increase in the protrusion of a woman’s buttocks when she wears high heels: 25

William A. Rossi (Marshfield, Mass.),

3/90Number of the 43 contestants in the annual Rotten Sneaker Contest held in Vermont last March who were women: 1

Combe, Inc. (White Plains, N.Y.)

3/90Number of Wellington boots for cows that the Gates Rubber Company of Dumfries, Scotland, sold last year: 3,000

Gates Rubber Co. (Dumfries, Scotland)

3/90Average number of pigs an American eats in a lifetime: 28

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

3/90Percentage of Americans who have tried caviar and say they “really liked” it: 8

Roper Organization (N.Y.C.)

3/90Amount of free Doritos distributed in Daytona Beach, Florida, during the 1989 spring break, in pounds: 1,982

Frito-Lay (Longwood, Fla.)

3/90Amount Americans spent last year on toy guns: $108,800,000

Toy Manufacturers of America (N.Y.C.)

3/90Number of shades of artificial blood sold by Cinema Secrets, a special-effects company in Burbank, California: 6

Cinema Secrets (Burbank, Calif.)

3/90Number of rats specifically bred for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: 3,000

Amblin Entertainment (Universal City, Calif.)

3/90Estimated number of pounces it takes a cat to catch a rodent: 3

Dennis Turner, Zoology Institute, University of Zurich

3/90Number of days after the invasion of Panama that an Oregon software company introduced the game Find Noriega!: 2

Abracadata, Ltd. (Eugene, Ore.)

3/90Fine proposed by a Tennessee state representative for assaulting anyone desecrating a U.S. or state flag: $1

State Rep. Shelby Rhinehart (Nashville)

3/90Number of times WXTB, a Florida radio station, played “Stairway to Heaven” consecutively on December 31, 1989: 181

WXTB Radio (Clearwater, Fla.)