Journalism math - ugh!

In this assignment, we were instructed to do some basic journalism math, along with knowing some basic editorial duties. Journalism students do not have to take many math classes, which is a good thing for most of us. My first attempt in class went well. I felt like it was all coming back to me. Then the professor gave the second assignment, and it might as well have been written in Japanese. The percentages gave me the most trouble. If this is incorrect and I am way off, I would love some feedback!

1. The most important factor in the relationship between media and consumers is credibility.
2. Skipped
3. Explain the flow of copy from the reporter through the copy-desk chief.
Reporters gaters facts, write the story, verify accuracy, then forward to the city editor.
City editors then edit the story, return it to the reporter for changes, and then forward to the copy-desk chief.
Copy-desk chiefs then decide on story placement, prepare page dummy, then forward to copy editor.
Copy editors polish writing of story, check for errors, write headline, and return to copy-desk chiefs.
Copy-desk chief verifies story is trimmed as necessary and that the correct headline is written, and then transfmits the page to output device.
4. List the 3-step editing process.
Read the story, edit the story, reread the story.
5. What are the 3 Rs of copy editing?
Reader-centered, readable, and right.
6. Difference between proofreading and copy editing.
Proofing is for any large mistakes, not minute details.
7. Difference between macro editing and micro editing.
Macro editing is more about the big story, facts, newsworthiness, etc. Micro editing is more for grammar and punctuation kinds of editing.
8. Huntington City Council on Monday approved $435,000 for road repairs in the central city. The city's 2008 budget for repairs was $410,000.
A. Did the budget for repairs increase or decrease? increase
B. What was the percentage increase or decrease? 6% increase
I divided 25,000 by 410,000.
C. Last year's budget was what percentage of this year's? 94%
I divided 410,000 by 435,000.
D. This year's budget is what percentage of last years? 106%
I divided 435,000 by 410,000.
9. Mayor Bart Jones announced more bad news. The city plans to spend $5.25 million on bridge repairs, a cut of 35 percent from its $6.5-million budget. Correct calculations?
Not correct. $5.25 million is a 20% cut from $6.5 million. $5.25 million is 80% of $6.5 million.
10. These were the scores on a test in JMC 305: 100, 98, 95, 93, 93, 90, 88, 87, 87, 86, 85, 85, 84, 70. What is the mean score? 88.6 - I added all the numbers and divided by total number of numbers. What is the median? 87.5 - I lined numbers in numeric order and counted to find center one. Because it was an even number of numbers, I added the two (88 and 87) and divided by two, getting 87.5.
11. These were teh scores on a test in JMC 360: 100, 98, 95, 93, 93, 90, 88, 87, 87, 86, 85, 85, 84. What is the mean score? 90 - I added the numbers together and divided the sum by the number of numbers. What is the median? I lined the numbers in numeric order and counted to find the center one, getting 90.
12. What would the sales tax be on a purchase of $7.80 if the state charges a 6 percent sales tax? 47 cents - I got this by multiplying $7.80 by 0.06.

Now I pose the question, is math necessary in the world of journalism? Absolutely. As much as we might hate it, we need math skills. It is important to be able to figure out statistics and to check facts we have recieved.