The numbers are all wrong

Reading The Record of Woodland Park today made me realize just how wrong all the numbers are. Not only do at least two stories contain confusing numbers, but it's clear the paper favors older white men as columnists over blacks, Hispanics and women.

It's right there on Page 1 -- three different totals for how much the North Arlington mayor diverted from his campaign fund. The lead paragraph says $28,000, the Fast facts box says $29,900 and the third paragraph says $28,200. Does anybody know which figure is correct?

Is there a deficit or surplus in the state budget? In a story on Page A-8, Governor Christie insists for a second day it's a deficit, which he revises to $1.3 billion. Corzine's treasurer says it's $1.1 billion, but that with budget cuts and other actions, there is actually a surplus of $496 million. Yet, the sub-headline misstates Corzine's stance as $1.2 billion, not $1.1 billion.

How many older male columnists does The Record need? Today, columns by Kevin DeMarrais, Harvy Lipman, Mike Kelley, John Cichowski and Peter Grad appear in the former Hackensack daily, which got rid of its only black and only Hispanic columnists, and one of its early female columnists. A Personal Finance column by veteran reporter Kathy Lynn appears today on the first Business page, making her the paper's third female columnist. Congratulations, Kathy. But when you count unfunny humor columnist Bill Ervolino, there are twice as many older males as females.

Did head Assignment Editor Deirdre "Laughs A Lot" Sykes ask Mike Kelly to go to Westwood and cover the arrival of a fallen Marine? Look at his lead paragraph. Does he get paid by the adjective? What tired prose. Mournful hum of bagpipes, gentle flapping of flags, indelible silence of residents. What is an "indelible silence"? He just pushes around words to create a mood. Westwood reporter Dena Yellin, who has less experience than Kelly, could have done a far better job. This is no laughing matter. Why do they keep him around? Why do they keep Sykes around?

The number of Hackensack and Englewood stories continues to be low (none today), despite the importance of those Bergen County cities. Teaneck reporter Joe Ax covers yet another hearing on that Queen Anne Road synagogue that was opened after an informal agreement with a township official. A brief on a North Bergen official omits any mention of why he quit, but the nature of the probe was laid out Wednesday in Cliffview Pilot.com.


In Better Living, readers are again short-changed on restaurant health inspections. But Food Editor Bill Pitcher gives three stars to a French restaurant in Ridgewood, then puts on his Editor of Fat hat and provides two long recipes so you can make sugar-filled donuts at home.