In my role as a math coordinator, I have written a set of standard exams used
in our math lab.
My Dean has asked that I change an item on one form of a test, because
it might be offensive.
Here's the item: (with minor changes to the numbers)
The life expectancy for whites in the US can be modeled by the
expression 0.18t + 69, where t=0 is January 1950. The life
expectancy for blacks can be modeled by 0.21t + 61. In what
year will the life expectancy for whites and blacks be the
same in the US?
(If you are curious, the problem is based on data that I downloaded from
the Census database on the Web.)
What do you think? Is my Dean's request "censorship", which should be
resisted? Or, is the request "just common sense", which I should follow?
Thanks for any 'wisdom' you can pass along!
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Jack Rotman phone (517)483-1079
Math Professor
Lansing Community College Lansing, MI
internet: ROTMAN@ALPHA.LANSING.CC.MI.US
"Like all art & science, mathematics surrounds us."
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