Findings from the study "2016's Best and Worst States for Women" by the personal finance website WalletHub show Arkansas doesn't fare well across many categories, including median income and those living in poverty.
In a comparison with the other 49 states and the District of Columbia, I was surprised to learn how much room we have for improvement.
With a ranking of 1 considered the "best" and 25 as "average," the study showed Arkansas is 35th in median earnings for females (cost of living-adjusted). It got worse when it came to the unemployment rate for our ladies at 37th.
Arkansas is 48th when it comes to the percentage living in poverty, and 34th in the share of women-owned businesses.
As for the number of female high school dropouts, we were 25th.
Then things went down: 50th in percentage of women who voted in the 2012 presidential election; 38th in the uninsured rate for women; 45th for life expectancy at birth and 47th in preventative health care.
My Ozarks philosopher friend Ralph Guynn of Harrison would say: "There's plenty of flies on that!"
The question is what, if anything, are we going to do to lift our state to at least average in each category?
Readership surprise
A website for newspaper professionals offered some encouraging news for our craft, at least in Canada. I can't help but believe the findings also relate to the U.S., although they fly in the face of conventional wisdom.
The site Vividata reported that surveyed millennials and adults between the ages of 35 and 49 are the strongest readers of digital newspaper content. In a week, 79 percent of the millennials read a paper in either paper or digital form.
"Digital-only readership is only 1 percent higher than print-only readership for adults 18-34, with the majority reading on both platforms. As age increases, the print reading habit becomes stronger and cross-platform readership dips."
Its study shows that 35 percent of those between 50 and 64 show a clear preference for print-only over solely digital, yet readership of both methods is 40 percent. That's music to the ears of this veteran who began trying his darnedest some 45 years ago to deliver relevant or reasonably interesting information (aka content) I believe readers want to absorb.
The Colonel's gift
I'm one who enjoys the camaraderie of those who've lived long enough to understand how the world actually works. That's why I joined the coffee group that gathers six mornings a week at the popular TownHouse Cafe on the Harrison Square.
In addition to continual conversations that erupt then subside, we play a daily numbers game to guess the secretly chosen number between 1 and 500. The winner has the privilege of buying everyone's coffee. That tab can range from as little as $4 (the minimum number required to play) or as much as 11 or 12 bucks, at a dollar a cup. We each leave a quarter tip.
Yes, I've won my fair share of privileges by guessing the number that's usually selected by the youngest member at the table after going round and round, steadily tightening the odds until the winner nails the number.
An original patriarch of this group that over the years has hosted many of Harrison's more influential and popular folks has been Col. David Fitton, who has gathered with friends for more than 40 years to shoot the bull and sip coffee together. Now almost 96 and health failing, his son, David, another mainstay of the klatch, announced the other day that his father had designated $5,000 from his investments to be earmarked upon his death to cover the cost of coffee for the group as long as the funds hold out.
The decorated World War II fighter pilot wanted to celebrate all the camaraderie and make sure his friends all remembered his gratitude well into the future.
So now with the Colonel covering daily coffee debits likely for the remainder of our lives, the group has decided to play the numbers game with the "winner" picking up the tip for all. Thanks to the kind and generous Colonel and all he's meant to the community and the family and many friends around him. Rest assured, he will be toasted daily.
Stadium first
One discussion during the morning group the other day centered around the controversial $160 million Razorback stadium expansion in Fayetteville.
That prompted an exchange about universities and their influential football programs that generate so many dollars.
John Arthur Hammerschmidt good-naturedly said that, after reading about colleges and their fundamental connection to football, he was convinced the first step in creating a successful university today is to build a stadium.
He relived his time flying over a relatively desolate desert area around the Grand Canyon and looked down to see a sizable football stadium curiously located where there appeared to be nothing else around. "I smiled and wondered what university is that going to be. If the stadium's built, they're bound to come."
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 07/16/2016