It's a rare week when there are no news flashes on my e-mail or phone calls from groups proclaiming that Nevada is at the top or bottom of some list.
Their mission is to catch the attention of editors who, the authors realize, love lists. And it's often effective, as those lists frequently get turned into stories in papers and on TV. You've seen them ... Nevada usually is listed as one of the best places to start a business, and one of the worst places to send your children to school, etc.
We seem to be, as an Appeal reporter pointed out last year, a state of extremes. Somehow, we always seem to be at the top or the bottom of those lists, seldom in the middle.
In general, we try to treat those lists like journalists should treat all statistics ... with a healthy dose of skepticism. Sometimes the studies are done by groups with an agenda who know you can get any answer you want depending upon how you ask a question. To determine the true veracity of a claim would require a complicated statistical analysis of the study (usually not possible), which is why we exhibit caution in presenting them as news.
That doesn't mean there's no truth to the findings, although when it comes to Nevada that would be something to hope for based on where we seem to rank in many of those studies.
Two recent reports on far different topics are an example.
One said youth in Nevada are about three times more likely to die before adulthood than the top states on the list (Vermont and Massachusetts). We were at the bottom of that list with states like Mississippi and Arkansas.
It was a report by the nonprofit and nonpartisan Every Child Matters Education Fund and it said children here are three times more likely to be born to a teenage mother and live in poverty, eight times more likely to be incarcerated and 13 times more likely to die from abuse and neglect.
Why?
Their list included poverty, race, educational achievement, political culture ("a narrower view of the role of government in addressing social issues"), taxes ("the bottom states generally tax themselves at much lower rates, leaving themselves without the revenue needed to make adequate investments in children"), etc.
Another recent study caught my attention because it seemed ... odd. "Nevada Among Worst in Litter Removal Efforts," the headline on the press release said.
And that had me wondering how they would determine something like that. Did they send someone to each state to count the trash in ditches? Did they do a phone survey?
My finger slipped off the delete button and I read on, albeit skeptically.
It's called The American State Litter Scorecard and it's based upon such things as litter eradication activities including having an anti-litter slogan and recycling programs, as well as money spent on litter removal, etc. On those measures, only - you guessed it - Mississippi was ranked worse, with Arkansas just ahead of us on the list. No matter the subject, we always seem to be grouped with those states, and often not in a good way.
"Nevadans throw away more trash daily, and are killed much more often by litter-related vehicle crashes for population size, than all other American States," the release said.
Wait, what? Killed by litter?
"In 2005, 14 Nevada residents died in litter/debris-related vehicle accidents statewide," the release said.
That's troubling stuff, even a little scary if you think about it. Apologies if any of this gets your weekend off to a bad start. I promise I'll watch my e-mail extra closely next week for the good lists.
•••
There's still time (but not much) to nominate someone for the Community Awards. If you're not familiar with them, there are a dozen categories: public servant of the year; organization of the year; artist of the year; athlete/sportsperson of the year; educator/school administrator of the year; student of the year; mentor of the year; volunteer of the year; employer of the year; employee of the year; humanitarian of the year; and citizen of the year. The awards will be handed out at a spectacular banquet at the Carson Nugget at the end of June.
Nominating someone is simple. Just send us an e-mail or letter explaining what makes your nominee special. The more specific you can get about their accomplishments, the better. Then, along with your name and phone number, just send it to the Nevada Appeal, Community Awards, 580 Mallory Way, Carson City, NV 89701. You may also e-mail it to editor@nevadaappeal.com (on the e-mail subject line, write "community awards nomination").
Make sure you send them before Monday.
• Barry Ginter is editor of the Appeal. You can reach him at 881-1221, or via e-mail at bginter@nevadaappeal.com