NEAT NUMERALS

184B

Tobacco companies many years ago recognized that public awareness of health issues would cut into their U.S. sales. They responded by shifting their marketing efforts to other countries, attempting to exploit the more uneducated and more vulnerable populations.

Philip Morris, for example, sold 184 billion cigarettes in the U.S. last year, but the company did better elsewhere: 242 billion in Western Europe, 229 in Eastern Europe, 197 billion in Asia Pacific.

In China, per-capita cigarette consumption has risen to 1,490 per year.

5.4M

The World Health Organization has revised its estimates for worldwide tobacco-related fatalities. About 5.4 million will die prematurely from tobacco in 2008.

WHO forecasts the figure will stand at 8.3 million by 2030, with 80 percent of the deaths taking place in low- or middle-income nations that can least afford the financial, health and social consequences.

50

Dickinson Mental Health Services of Ridgway marks its 50th anniversary this year.

A celebration will be held at the courthouse lawn in Ridgway on Aug. 15.

Dickinson was founded in 1958 as the Ridgway Area Psychiatric Center by Dr. Robert Dickinson. It was the first rural psychiatric outpatient facility in the state. Its name was changed in 1981.

Dickinson now employs 200 people serving people with mental health and mental retardation related needs in Cameron, Potter, McKean and Elk counties. It has offices in Emporium, Coudersport, Ridgway, Bradford, St. Marys and Shinglehouse.

8

At one time, the United States was the world leader in developing solar energy. Those days are gone.

Thanks largely to shifts in federal policy, the U.S. is now producing eight percent of the global output of solar energy. The figure was 40 percent a decade ago.

68

Electric bills are going to skyrocket.

Pennsylvania's utility consumer advocate, Sonny Popowsky, forecasts that deregulation of the electric companies will cause consumer bills to increase by at least 50 percent. He predicts a 63 percent hike for Allegheny Power customers.

Pennsylvania froze electric rates at 1990s levels, as part of a deregulation designed to deliver lower bills in a competitive marketplace. Once those caps expire, utilities can bill customers for the true price of the power they buy.

Allegheny Power is scheduled to phase-in the total increase over the next three years.

Popowsky wants utilities to be required to seek out the lowest-cost electricity on the wholesale market.

Under one bill that the House passed in February, the state would hire a company to manage conservation and efficiency programs and meet goals for electricity savings. There are also competing plans in the legislature to distribute hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives to encourage alternative and cleaner energy production, as well as efficiency and conservation projects.

Most of the money in both would go to energy businesses, while a smaller slice would help people pay for new furnaces, solar panels or other home projects that can cut electric bills.

8.8M

Some 8.8 million of lowincome Americans who are eligible for food stamps are not receiving them. In the majority of cases, this is because they are not aware of the fact that they qualify.

Some 36.5 million people meet the income guidelines. But just 27.7 million receive the stamps.

10

A successful program to reduce the amount sedimentation clogging Potter County's streams marks its 10th anniversary this year.

The Dirt and Gravel Road Maintenance Program has resulted in work on almost 50 miles of roads in the county to reduce discharges that damage waterways. Potter County Conservation District and Trout Unlimited are among the lead organizations. Most of the county's 25 townships have partnered with the program.

3.6M

Pennsylvania has hired an image consultant to help the state make more money by selling booze.

The $3.6 million contract with Landor Associates of San Francisco calls for a study of state wine and spirits stores to improve marketing and store layout. Landor concentrates on successful "branding" and has boosted the marketing efforts of clients such as Microsoft, Pepsi and Levi's.

Booze sales were a record $1.7 billion in Pennsylvania last year. The state's profits come from a 30 percent markup, an 18-percent liquor tax and a six-percent sales tax.

The marketing plan has drawn criticism from some groups. Rebecca Shaver, director of Pa. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said she thinks Pennsylvania alcohol users already know where they can get the stuff.

"This is a very addictive product and when not consumed responsibly, it can kill people," she said.