[Newspoetry] Statistics in Urbana

[William Gillespie]

Newspoets,

I just got a letter on official letterhead that cites the following
amazing true fact:

"the arts in Champaign County generate an economic impact
in excess of $24 million annually"

Oof! That's some impact those arts generate. I should spend less money on
books.

It also amazes me that a project as vast as Newspoetry could be
responsible for such a small fraction of that huge impact. Of course, it
is not clear what "economic impact" actually means, but I think it is safe
to say that Newspoetry did not figure heavily in the data those researchers
analyzed.

But it is of course shallow and callus to look at everything in
economic terms. After all, Newspoetry, to its credit, has generated a
poetic impact in excess of $3 billion annually. That's a lot of impact.

with "a synergy that goes beyond the sum of our respective parts,"
William