Journalism by the numbers
To say journalists in general are bad at math would be misleading and prejudicial. To say it wasn't the best subject for many in school would be accurate.
That’s why the headline at the top of Thursday’s front page made reference to a 27-percent raise for Beaumont firefighters. That’s also why we are running a correction on that headline tomorrow.
The firefighters' raise, as currently set, will be 9 percent per year for three years. Three times 9 is 27. Unfortunately, that’s not an accurate reflection of the facts.
The firefighters are set to get a 9 percent raise the first year. Their second year raise will be based on 9 percent of their then-current, increased salary; and their third-year raise will be based on 9 percent of that increased salary.
So, you get it. The raise will be more than 27 percent. Just how much bigger I will leave for the math majors at Lamar University. (How 'bout it LU profs, a tiny bit of extra credit work for those students?)
That’s why the headline at the top of Thursday’s front page made reference to a 27-percent raise for Beaumont firefighters. That’s also why we are running a correction on that headline tomorrow.
The firefighters' raise, as currently set, will be 9 percent per year for three years. Three times 9 is 27. Unfortunately, that’s not an accurate reflection of the facts.
The firefighters are set to get a 9 percent raise the first year. Their second year raise will be based on 9 percent of their then-current, increased salary; and their third-year raise will be based on 9 percent of that increased salary.
So, you get it. The raise will be more than 27 percent. Just how much bigger I will leave for the math majors at Lamar University. (How 'bout it LU profs, a tiny bit of extra credit work for those students?)
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 12:55 PM
2 Comments:
Check my math: It would come out to be 29.5 percent.
But, hey, I'm a newspaperman.
Not bad for a newspaperman. I came up with the same number (but that degree in math doesn't mean anything. All I've done is add, subtract, multiply and divide since I got it. *chuckle*)
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