EXERCISE #2: Reporting with Numbers

1) A local college releases figures showing that its total budget is $120 million. Of that total, $80 million comes from the state, $6 million from student tuition, and the remaining $34 million from fees, grants and gifts.

a) 67% comes from the state, 5% comes from student tuition, and 28% comes from fees, grants and gifts.
b) - Largest amount of funding: The state
- Least amount of funding: Student tuition
c) The largest part of the college's budget comes from the state, while the smallest amount comes from student tuition. Finally, money from fees, grants and gifts makes up a little less than half of the budget.

2) Your editor assigns you to do a story about prison sentences handed down in cases of aggravated assault. He gives you the following figures from an anti-crime group that is lobbying for tougher sentencing guidelines. The cases represent the people convicted for aggravated assault in San Jose in one month in 2006.

a) The average prison term for people convicted of aggravated assault: 22 months
b) The media prison term for people convicted of aggravated assault: 1 year
c) The average figure is the most accurate description of prison terms because it gives one a better picture of the outside values, in this example, 8 months and 7 years, while the median does not.

3) The state legislature is considering exempting restaurant food sales from the sales tax in the same way grocery sales are exempt.

a) California sales tax: 7.25%
b) If the state legislature decides to exempt restaurant food sales from the sales tax then a person who spends $5 a week on one restaurant meal would save about $18.85 a year. This is because there are about 52 weeks in a year, so times that by $5 and you spend $260 per year.
c) They would save around $75.40 per year.