Numbers

55% Percentage of freshmen at the nation's 250 most selective colleges who came from the highest-earning one-fourth of households in 2000

46% Percentage of freshmen at the same colleges who came from the highest-earning quarter of households in 1985

28% Proportion of public libraries in the U.S. that offered Internet access in 1996

95% Proportion of libraries that offer Internet access today

17% Increase in library attendance in the past six years

11 million Number of taxpayers who filed their income tax returns on the Internet, up 21% from last year

34.2 million Number of returns e-filed by accountants, up 14% from last year

21% Percentage of people who picked Clair Huxtable of The Cosby Show in a survey asking which TV mom is most like their own; she was the No. 1 pick.

7% Percentage who picked Marge Simpson in same survey

Sources: UCLA; New York Times; IRS; Opinion Research Corp.