European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 27, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Columns artists easel with squares photo by Peter Jaeger a Magazine Page Friday woul Dve loved by Chuck Vinch staff columnist in a big Magazine i read somewhere Between 12 and 15 a almost All of us who regularly read magazines have our favorite sections the just one More Page in the scorecard in sports playboys after hours More the Centrefold but my favorite Section of any Magazine has become the Index at the very beginning of each Issue of harpers its a fairly new feature that began last year when harpers went through some editorial the Magazine Bills it As a random and not so random collection of facts pertaining to current events and social its fascinating in a Way that Only True statistical buffs and trivia freaks can so Many of the items in the things that most of us have heard or read something about but they seem to take on a whole new meaning when presented within the harsh Light of for we All know that starvation and famine Are problems of huge proportion in the Index looks at it this Way the average Price of a pheasant at labels Butcher shop in new York is while the average Price of a roasting rat in Nigeria is 65 this is a Subtle Way of saying count your we All know that pornography in America is big but you probably do int know that americans spend billion annually on that about a year for every woman and child in the make those perverts pay that Money to the Federal government in the form of taxes and wed have the deficit under control in no supposedly there is a renewed feeling of patriotism sweeping the United states these the Index supports that observation with these facts there has been a 20 percent increase in the number of american flags sold in the past and the percentage of americans who believe communism is the worst form of government has jumped from 44 percent in 1973 to 61 percent better dead than there Are less newsworthy items in the Index that still manage to seem the percentage of american men who admit they Wear uncomfortable shoes because they look Good is for that percentage is i can personally attest to i never have problems with my but i cant begin to count the number of times my wife and i have gone on a 200mile walking tour of Paris and its surrounding suburbs or something like Only to have my wife soaking her feet at the end of each Day because the shoes she brought Are maiming the Index seems to like picking on the for it says that there were 180 police officers and secret service agents at the wedding of reagans daughter there were Only 134 after that came another Reagan item number of times Ronald Reagan has seen his 17monthold granddaughter so much for the family and then the Index mixes in some facts that Are straight out of left just for comic for example each an estimated work hours Are lost because of menstrual having never experienced this particular malady i cant say i know what it feels but somehow i just didst picture it As being that or there Are lepers in the Western this unnerved where Are they All hiding that Many lepers cant possibly blend into the general then maybe there All living in san and squirrels lose about half the nuts they store up because they forget where they stored this was a sad revelation to i have always admired squirrels because they seemed so plucky and now i find out there almost As dumb As human of As humorous and informative As these items you might not want to Shell out two Bucks just for one Page of but look at it this Way if nothing you can always use the Index material As fresh fodder for your trivial Pursuit approximate number of sets sold since the game was introduced 22 and that a j tune stripes Magazine 3