Malibuites should not worry about their difficulties in mathematics. I can assure them mine is greater. In grammar school, in the ’50s, I was taught: A rancher sells a truckload of hay for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
In the ’60s, I was examined in college: A rancher sells a truckload of hay for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
New Math in the ’70s taught my oldest son: A farmer exchanges a set “L” of carrots for a set “M” of money. The cardinality of set “M” is 100. Each element is worth $1. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set “M.” The set “C”, the cost of production contains 20 fewer points than set “M.” Represent the set “C” as a subset of set “M” and answer the following question:
What is the cardinality of the set “P” of profits?
When my youngest son was educated in the ’80s, his public school question read: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
In the ’90s the Malibu City Council instructed “uneducated” Malibuites in math: By cutting down beautiful native vegetation, the gardener makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic after answering the question: How did the native Chumash birds and squirrels “feel” as the gardener cut down the chaparral? There are no wrong answers. In today’s math, according to retired CSUN Finance Professor Joe Buchwald, undergraduates are quizzed: If the Malibu Times sells a truckload of newspapers for $100, their cost of production is $120. How does Arthur Andersen determine that their profit margin is $60?
And that is all I have to say.
Tom Fakehany