News

JEFFERSON CO. RESIDENTS MORE ENVIOUS THAN ‘SIN CITY’ COUNTERPARTS, STUDY SAYS

By Wes Clement/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, May 28, 2009 2:16 PM CDT

The occurrence of envy within Jefferson County is greater than that of Los Angeles County, Calif., and Clark County, Nev., home of “Sin City” Las Vegas, according to a recent study.

Four Kansas State University geography graduate students presented a study at the 2009 annual conference of the Association of American Geographers entitled “The Spatial Distribution of the Seven Deadly Sins within Nevada.”

The study went on to chart the occurrence of the deadly sins within all U.S. counties, assigning each county to one of five categories for each sin based on gathered statistical data.

Envy and pride were found to be the greatest sins among Jefferson County residents while greed, calculated by comparing average incomes with the number of inhabitants living beneath the poverty line, was found to be the least prevalent of the county’s sins.

All other Southeast Arkansas counties were also placed into the lowest category for greed.

Envy was calculated by number of thefts per capita including robbery, burglary, larceny and stolen cars.

Pride, considered in the study to be the root of all sin, was calculated by averaging evidence of the other six sins. The county was placed into the highest pride category, higher than any other county in Southeast Arkansas.

A positive mark for Jefferson County was its placement into the lowest category for sloth, calculated by comparing arts, entertainment and recreation expenditures with the rate of employment, while Drew County ranked in the highest sloth category.

In the category of lust, measured by the number of sexually transmitted diseases reported per capita, Cleveland, Lincoln and Arkansas counties were each placed in the second lowest category, the lowest in the region, and Jefferson County was placed in the second highest category.

Surpassed in the state only by Forrest City’s St. Francis County, Jefferson, Desha and Arkansas counties appeared into the second highest category for wrath, figured according to the total number of violent crimes per capita reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation including murder, assault and rape.

Jefferson County was placed into the middle category for gluttony, based on the number of fast food restaurants per capita.

Maps illustrating further results of the study may be viewed online at http://lasvegassun.com/photos/galleries/2009/mar/25/seven-deadly-sins-nationwide/

Print this story   |   Email this story