(no subject)

[deckardcanine]

From the Express:

"24: The percentage that sexual assaults have increased in the military, according to a Pentagon report released Wednesday. Nearly 3,000 attacks were reported in the military last year, compared with 2,400 in 2005."

I calculate that (3000 - 2400)/3000 = 600/3000 = 1/5 = 20%. And the exact percentage should be less than that.

I have to be fairly forgiving for errors in newspapers, considering how quickly those things get churned out. But when the error is in simple arithmetic, I shake my head.

Then I realize that what the statistics represent is still more deserving of a head shake.

Comments

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

% increase = change / original, (3000 - 2400) / 2400 = 25%, I think they rounded it down to 24% because it was "nearly" 3000 instead of 3000.

3000 per year though, ugh. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised to hear the rate is similar for the US population as a whole.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

I sit on my butt corrected. :-( Good thing I'm reading math-related sites to get me back in the habit.

I wonder how to interpret the opposition to gays in the military in light of the rampant sexual aggression in the military. Maybe they're thinking, "If we let gays in, NOBODY will be safe." Never mind that active soldiers aren't safe anyway.

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy might help protect gays by keeping them discrete; being flamboyant about it might make them targets for harrassment and abuse.

I'm curious about that 3000 number, are you sure it means 3000 rapes? Could it also include sexual harrassment assaults, like a soldier giving his secretary a swat on the rear as she passes by? Those are bad too, but not as bad.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

In more than one source, I have seen high estimates for females and males in general getting sexually assaulted at some time in their lives. I figure that their definition of sexual assault includes any kind of expressly unwelcome touching.