EDUCATION

... early in this century only 10% of Americans 18 years old had high school diplomas. Now, only 10% don't have them.

...the percentage of Third World girls enrolled in primary and secondary has jumped from 38 to 68%.

...today, there are twice as many institutions of higher education in the world as there were only 50 years ago.

...there are nearly 15 million students attending colleges and universities in the United States today. That's 2.5 times more than 30 years ago and 100 times more than a century ago.

...a U.S. government report finds that 28% of high school students have an "A" average, nearly double the comparison rate in 1970.

ECONOMY & TECHNOLOGY

...in America, the length of the average work week has diminished from some 53 hours at the start of the century to about 35 hours at present.

...in 1945, a call betwen the U.S. and Japan cost $10.00 a minute. Today, this same call costs more than 95% less, without even adjusting for inflation.

...there are over 10 million private businesses in the U.S. today, 25% more than there were in 1970.

...in 1940, one Americam worker produced only enough food to supply a dozen people. Now, a single worker turns out enough food for about 80 people.

...besides downsizing their defense industries, many countries are slashing the size of their armies.

...in 1970, the U.S. had 3.1 million military personnel on active duty, with more than 1 million stationed in foreign countries. By 1988, the active duty roster had dropped to 2.1 milion, with 541,000 serving abroad.

...today, according to the Statiscal Abstract of the U.S., only 1.6 million are on active duty, and only 267,000 serve in foreign countries.

...worldwide military spending was reduced by $935 billion dollars between 1987 and 1994.

YOU & YOUR ENVIRONMENT

... since 1900, the average life expectancy in the U.S. has risen to 74 from 47 years, a gain of nearly 60%.

...50% of all medical advances have been developed in the past 10 years.

...from 1988 to 1993, the U.S. recycling rate has risen from 3% to 22%.

...in 1970, only 25% of river-miles in the nation met federal standards for fishing and swimming. Now, 60% meet that standard.

... the number of people over 100 years old-aproximately 52,000- has tripled since 1980.

SOCIETY

....79% of American adults believe that strong spiritual faith can help people recover from illness or injury

...according to the F.B.I., the nation's murder rate reached its lowest level in 30 years. Serious crimes reported to the police in 1997 declined for a 6th consecutive year.

...despite the huge growth in multi-media, Americans are buying a record number of books. Yearly purchases now exceed 2 billion books, up from about 1.7 billion in the mid 1980's.

...according to a recent poll by the Boston firm of Marzilla Comunications/Kiley., anti-semitism has dropped by 50% since 1992.

...Americans gave some $144 billion to charity in 1995 (up nearly 8% from the previous year) marking the sharpest gain in a decade.

...in 1990, overall atendance at U.S. sporting events totaled 388 million, while overall attendance at religious services exceeded 5 billion.

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