ARIZONA’S FIVE Cs? LET’S SEE, COPPER, COTTON … UH …

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By SONU MUNSHI
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Wednesday, Oct. 31) _ Visiting the State Capitol, Phyllis Graham of Phoenix was stumped when a reporter asked if she could name the “Five Cs” regarded as historical pillars of Arizona’s economy.

“Are they important?” she asked.

They are so important, as a matter of fact, that copper, cotton, cattle, citrus and climate are on the official state seal, which graces floors, door handles, walls and exhibits around the Capitol complex.

Graham has plenty of company. Only 3 percent of Arizonans could list all of the Five Cs in a poll released Wednesday by the Social Research Laboratory at Northern Arizona University.

Copper had the greatest recognition; 28 percent knew it was among the Five Cs. Cotton was close behind with 23 percent, followed by cattle with 15 percent, citrus with 12 percent and climate with 10 percent.

“I’m surprised at that 3 percent figure, but sadly it’s a sign of the times,” said Marshall Trimble, Arizona’s state historian.

“There was a time when cotton was king and there were cattle barons and copper mining towns _ Bisbee and Jerome,” Trimble said. “Now it’s all about the high-tech industries _ the Motorolas and the Googles.”

Don’t count Gov. Janet Napolitano among the 97 percent. Asked during her weekly media availability, Napolitano listed the Five Cs. But she’s sympathetic to those who don’t know because Arizona isn’t just known for those five industries anymore.

Jim Turner, a historian at the Arizona Historical Society, agreed with the governor.

“The idea of the Five Cs was to represent the top economy resources, but they’re not viable anymore,” Turner said. “Citrus could probably be replaced by computers.”

But Turner also said people nationally know less historical trivia these days.

“When you watch Jay Leno and the man-on-the-street questions he asks, a majority of people can’t answer the history and geography questions,” Turner said.

The poll, conducted Thursday, Oct. 18, to Sunday, Oct. 21, involved 400 randomly selected Arizonans interviewed by phone. It has a margin for error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

James Bowie, a research specialist with the Social Research Laboratory, said the tide of new Arizona residents from other states and countries contributed to the results.

“The Five Cs is something taught in Arizona schools, and it was very well known,” Bowie said. “It seems like today a lot of people aren’t familiar with the basic parts that cemented Arizona’s economy.”

Bowie said the idea behind the poll was to test the level of knowledge among the average Arizonans about their state and their interest in civics.

Of the 3 percent who could name each of the Five Cs, all were at least 40 years old, Bowie said.

Sitting outside the State Capitol on Wednesday, Democratic Party volunteers Lori Scott, Carole Pearsall and Carol Clewell had a chance to name the Five Cs. Scott named them all, while Clewell remembered cattle.

“I guess I should have remembered,” Pearsall said.

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Web Link:

_ Social Research Laboratory: www.socialresearchlab.com

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CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-POLL-FIVE Cs: The Great Seal of the State of Arizona, a version of which lies on the main lobby floor in the old Arizona State Capitol building in Phoenix, depicts the so-called “Five Cs” of Arizona’s economy: copper, cotton, citrus, cattle and climate. A poll released Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007, by the Social Research Laboratory at Northern Arizona University found that just 3 percent of Arizonans could list all five. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Sonu Munshi)