Go Figure

A large electronic sign that keeps a running count of something has become the latest essential municipal accessory. In Atlanta, for example, a sign counts down the days until the 1996 Summer Olympics, while a sign in Los Angeles tracks smoking deaths. In Seattle a sign counts the dollars Americans are allegedly saving by using MCI; one sign in New York City tallies the national debt and another the growing audience for Les Miserables; and in Washington a sign adds up those who have lost health insurance since Clinton's address to Congress on health reform.