Problems with mathematics

I would like to compliment The Jakarta Post's language editors on their high standard of grammar and diction. The mathematical editors, however, don't always live up to that high standard. An example of this was found on July 1, 1994 in "This Odd World" column in the article Wife beating falls during World Cup.

It states that calls from battered Israeli women have dropped dramatically since the World Cup began...by 50 percent. It later says the number of calls has dropped from 5,000 per year to 15 per day. A quick calculation reveals that 15 calls per day is equal to about 5,500 calls per year. In fact, it would appear that violence has actually gone up during World Cup.

I would appreciate very much if you would check your mathematical calculations as carefully as you check your English language.

ERIC ALAN GERBER

Jakarta