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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, August 30, 2009

Rock is king, but it wasn't decades ago


By John MacIntyre

Forty years after Woodstock, the percentage of U.S. adults today who say they listen to rock music at least sometimes, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 65%

Rank of rock 'n' roll among popular genres, including country, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, classical, jazz and salsa: 1

Back in 1966, percentage of adults who said they disliked rock 'n' roll: 44%

Percentage who said it was their favorite kind of music: 4%

TEXTBOOK TAB

Average percentage gross margin on new textbooks, according to NACS OnCampus Research: 23.1%

For every dollar spent on new textbooks, amount made by the college store (the rest goes to the publisher, the author and shipping costs): 6.3 cents

ROAD WORRIERS

Percentage of drivers who said they feel less safe than they did five years ago, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: 35%

Over the past 25 years, number of American lives that have violently ended in motor vehicle crashes (killing more children, teens and young adults than any other single cause), according to the AAA Foundation: 1 million

AMBER WAVES

Year in which Denver restaurant owner Henry Perky patented the idea of shredded wheat: 1893

Number of pounds of wheat products each of us eats every year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 134

POOCH MOOCH

Of the special things that owners do for their dogs, percentage who say the most common is feeding them treats, according to a survey for Alpo: 79%

Percentage who give their dog belly rubs: 73%

Percentage who let their dog sleep in bed with them: 45%

IDLE THOUGHT

"It is a trick among the dishonest to offer sacrifices that are not needed, or not possible, to avoid making those that are required."

Ivan Goncharov, novelist

Contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.