Hermes Index
(With apologies to Harpers Magazine)
1. Percentage of Pulitzer Prize winners from 1991-1995 who had attended journalism school: 41
2. Percent of voters on the US News and World Report college rankings who were unfamiliar with some of the schools they were asked to rank: 84
3. Percent of participants in this year's Southern Baptist convention who eat pastry and/or donuts for breakfast, according to a convention survey: 61
4. Percent of spending (worldwide) on energy development invested in nuclear power: 50
5. Percent of world energy consumption provided by nuclear power: 5
6. Incidences of "tampering" at WestCo this year, as reported by Public Safety: 5
7. Monthly public assistance received by workfare participants in Maryland: $350
8. Hours the participants work per month: 130
9. Payment per hour this translates to: $2.69
10. New minimum hourly wage to be received by many Baltimore public employees doing work similar to workfare jobs: $7.10
11. Collective wealth owned by the world's 447 billionares in 1996: $1.1 trillion
12. Collective income of the poorest 52 percent of the world's people in 1996: $1.1 trillion
13. Percent of all raw materials consumed in the US that are involved in the production of animal-based foods: 33
14. Percent less water needed to feed a vegan than a meat-eater: 90
15. Ratio of organic water pollution created by wastes from animal agriculture to that created by all other industrial sources combined: 3:1
Sources: 1,2: Rolling Stone, October 16, 1997, pp. 77, 97; 3: Newsweek, October 6, 1997, p. 8; 7-12: The Nation, October 31, 1997, pp. 7, 12; 13-15: Why Vegan? (figures from U.S. Departments of Commerce and Interior).